Digital Assistant Sensor Activation for Ambiguous Requests
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Solution Overview
Problem
Digital assistants struggle to determine appropriate responses to ambiguous user requests, particularly in computer-generated reality technologies, due to the difficulty in interpreting deictic references and the need for additional contextual data.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device employs semantic analysis to determine the likelihood of requiring additional contextual data, enabling sensors such as cameras based on this likelihood exceeding a threshold to capture data for a more precise response.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensors are continuously enabled to capture contextual data, then the digital assistant can respond to ambiguous requests, but power consumption increases and battery life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts sensor states based on real-time analysis of user requests. Sensors are enabled only when the digital assistant determines contextual data is needed to resolve ambiguity, and disabled otherwise. This dynamic switching resolves the contradiction by making sensor operation conditional rather than continuous.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter of sensors from a static 'always on' state to a variable state controlled by a determination mechanism. A likelihood threshold is used to change the sensor state parameter, enabling sensors only when the probability of needing contextual data exceeds the threshold, thus optimizing power consumption while maintaining response accuracy.
2Reliability
If sensors are enabled to capture contextual data, then the digital assistant can determine appropriate responses, but unnecessary data capture reduces privacy
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different data capture qualities based on local needs. Instead of uniformly capturing all possible data, sensors are selectively enabled only for specific moments when contextual data is determined to be necessary. This local application of data capture resolves the privacy contradiction by limiting surveillance to only when genuinely needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital assistant autonomously determines when sensor activation is appropriate without requiring user permission for each instance. The system serves itself by evaluating request ambiguity and automatically enabling sensors only when necessary, reducing privacy intrusion while maintaining response accuracy.
3Loss of information
If multiple sensors are enabled simultaneously, then comprehensive contextual data is captured, but device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the necessary sensor data needed to resolve the specific ambiguous request. Rather than enabling all sensors simultaneously, the digital assistant determines which specific sensor types are relevant to the current context and enables only those. This extraction approach captures sufficient contextual data while reducing device complexity.
4Productivity
If sensors are enabled quickly to resolve ambiguous requests, then user interaction efficiency improves, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary semantic analysis on user requests to determine likelihood of ambiguity before enabling sensors. This preliminary evaluation allows the system to prepare for potential sensor activation without actually enabling sensors prematurely, thus maintaining interaction efficiency while avoiding unnecessary power consumption from continuous sensor operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and processes for operating a digital assistant are provided. An example process for determining a response includes, at an electronic device having one or more processors and memory, receiving a spoken input including a request, performing a semantic analysis on the spoken input, determining, based on the semantic analysis, a likelihood that the electronic device requires additional contextual data to satisfy the request, and in accordance with the determined likelihood exceeding a threshold, enabling a camera of the electronic device and determining a response to the request based on data captured by the camera of the electronic device.