Appliance Camera Visual Cue Voice Command Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity of interacting with smart appliances due to the need for push-to-talk or wake-word initiation methods is hindered by hand occupancy and vulnerability to false positives and background noise, particularly in noisy environments like kitchens, which interferes with speech recognition systems.
Innovation Solution
An appliance system that uses a camera to identify visual cues such as facial features and prolonged gaze or moving lips to initiate voice commands, communicates with networked devices to reduce background noise, and processes the voice command after determining the user has finished speaking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If push-to-talk method is used to initiate speech recognition, then speech command recognition can be triggered intentionally, but user interaction becomes complex and inconvenient when hands are occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical push-to-talk button press with an optical detection system using a camera to detect visual cues such as mouth movement or facial gestures. This substitution allows hands-free initiation of speech recognition by detecting when the user intends to speak through visual indicators, thereby maintaining reliable command triggering while improving ease of operation when hands are occupied
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a camera as an intermediary device between the user and the speech recognition system. The camera captures visual cues that indicate the user's intent to provide a voice command, serving as a mediator that triggers the speech recognition process without requiring direct physical contact with the appliance, thus solving the contradiction between reliable initiation and hands-free operation
2Ease of operation
If wake-up word method is used to initiate speech recognition, then hands-free operation is enabled, but the system becomes vulnerable to false positives from background noise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the acoustic wake-up word detection with an optical detection system using a camera to capture visual cues such as mouth movement or facial gestures. This substitution eliminates the vulnerability to false positives from background noise while maintaining hands-free operation, as the visual cues are not affected by acoustic interference
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a camera as an intermediary that detects visual indicators of speech intent rather than relying on acoustic wake-up words. This intermediary approach filters out false positives from background noise by focusing on visual cues that are uniquely associated with human speech preparation, thereby improving reliability while preserving hands-free operation
3Productivity
If background noise is present in the kitchen environment, then normal appliance operation continues, but speech command recognition accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by detecting visual cues before the speech command is actually given. The camera identifies when the user is preparing to speak through visual indicators, allowing the system to pre-process audio signals or adjust noise filtering parameters in anticipation of the command, thereby maintaining high recognition accuracy despite ongoing background noise
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback by continuously monitoring visual cues from the camera and using this information to dynamically adjust audio processing parameters. When visual indicators suggest the user is speaking, the system enhances audio signal processing to compensate for background noise, ensuring accurate recognition while maintaining continuous appliance operation
Data Source
AI summary
Appliance systems and methods for using visual cues to improve appliance audio recognition are provided. One example method performed by an appliance includes identifying one or more visual cues included in imagery captured by a camera of the appliance. The one or more visual cues indicate that a user of the appliance is seeking to provide a voice command to the appliance. The method includes communicating with one or more devices over a network to reduce background noise associated with the one or more devices upon identifying the one or more visual cues. The method includes receiving the voice command from the user. The method includes determining that the user has finished providing the voice command. The method includes communicating with the one or more devices over the network to resume standard operations upon determining that the user has finished providing the voice command.