Animated Character Feedback for Voice Training Status

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Solution Overview

Problem

Voice-controlled consumer-oriented application devices lack comprehensive feedback to users on their training status, making it difficult for users to understand the system's functionality and maturity level, especially in speaker-dependent systems where training is required for specific users.

Innovation Solution

Implementing an animated character that represents the training status through various maturity levels, using visual representations and animations to intuitively convey the training progress, such as a growing puppy or other creatures, to provide feedback on the effectiveness of voice commands and system functionality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If comprehensive feedback on training status is provided to users, then user understanding and interaction are improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser understanding of training statusVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

An animated character is introduced as an intermediary element that visually represents the training status of the voice-controlled system. The character's appearance, size, or other attributes change to indicate different training levels, providing intuitive feedback to users without requiring complex interface elements or technical explanations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The animated character undergoes visual transformations such as color changes, size variations, or other visual attributes to communicate different training status levels. These visual changes provide immediate, intuitive feedback to users about the system's training progress without adding complex interface requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #32Color changes

2Measurement precision

If user-dependent speech recognition is implemented, then recognition accuracy is improved, but training time and effort increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespeech recognition accuracyVSAvoidtraining time

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides continuous visual feedback through the animated character to show users their training progress in real-time. This feedback mechanism motivates users to complete training by making the abstract concept of 'training level' visible and tangible, potentially reducing the perceived time investment and encouraging completion.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system allows users to access partial functionality even with incomplete training by using the animated character to indicate current capability levels. Users can perform tasks within their trained vocabulary while being guided to expand their training, reducing the perceived time burden by allowing progressive usage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Loss of information

If training progress is visually represented with multiple maturity levels, then user feedback comprehension is improved, but information display complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetraining status communicationVSAvoidinterface complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The animated character serves as a mediator that translates complex training status data into simple, intuitive visual representations. Instead of displaying numerical progress bars, percentages, or technical metrics, the system uses the character's visual attributes to convey training levels, reducing interface complexity while improving information communication.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS7707033B2Method for training a consumer-oriented application device by speech items, whilst reporting progress by an animated character with various maturity statuses each associated to a respective training level, and a device arranged for supporting such method

Publication Date: 2010.04.27 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

Training a consumer-oriented application device is based on a plurality of user-presented speech items. A progress measure is reported regarding a training status reached for a particular user person. In particular, the training status is visually represented by an animated character creature which has a plurality of training status representative maturity statuses that are each associated to a corresponding training level.