Speech Sharpness Comparison for Appliance Selection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic devices with speech recognition functions often activate the wrong appliance or fail to recognize trigger words due to ambient noise, leading to inconvenience for users who need to reutter the trigger word or move closer to the intended appliance.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device that includes a processor to identify a speech signal as a trigger word, determine its sharpness value, and communicate with external devices to activate the correct speech recognition mode based on the sharpness values, ensuring accurate command recognition without additional user actions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a speech recognition mode is activated by a trigger word in a plurality of home appliances, then the speech recognition function can be easily accessed, but the wrong appliance may be activated or the trigger word may not be recognized due to ambient noise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making each appliance's trigger word recognition characteristic unique through spatial positioning. The system determines which appliance should respond based on the user's relative position to each appliance, creating location-specific recognition zones. This resolves the contradiction by ensuring that the trigger word is reliably recognized by the intended appliance while other appliances remain unresponsive, thus maintaining ease of operation without sacrificing recognition accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism - the speech sharpness value comparison system - that mediates between multiple appliances receiving the same trigger word. Instead of relying solely on distance-based selection, the system uses speech sharpness values (obtained from each appliance's microphone) as an intermediary metric to determine which appliance should activate speech recognition. This intermediary approach improves reliability by selecting the appliance with the clearest signal, even if not the closest one.
2Reliability
If the user moves closer to the intended home appliance to ensure recognition, then the trigger word can be recognized accurately, but additional user actions are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling appliances to autonomously determine which one should respond to the trigger word based on speech sharpness values. Instead of requiring the user to position themselves strategically or manually select an appliance, the system automatically evaluates the speech signal quality at each appliance and selects the most appropriate one. This eliminates the need for additional user actions while maintaining high recognition accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by having appliances pre-evaluate speech sharpness values before activating speech recognition mode. The system compares speech sharpness values from multiple appliances in advance and determines the target appliance before initiating the speech recognition process. This preliminary evaluation ensures accurate trigger word recognition without requiring the user to take additional actions like moving closer or reuttering the trigger word.
3Ease of operation
If speech recognition mode is activated by the closest appliance, then activation is simple, but the activated appliance may not match the user's intent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses speech sharpness value as an intermediary metric to bridge the gap between simple automatic activation and accurate user intent recognition. Instead of automatically activating the closest appliance, the system compares speech sharpness values from all appliances and selects the one with the highest value. This intermediary approach ensures that the activated appliance matches the user's intent while maintaining automatic, simple operation without requiring manual selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the selection parameter from purely distance-based (closest appliance) to speech sharpness value-based. By using speech sharpness values as the decision parameter, the system can automatically select the appliance that best matches user intent based on signal quality rather than proximity. This parameter change resolves the contradiction by maintaining automatic activation simplicity while improving intent accuracy through a more meaningful selection criterion.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device including a memory storing signal information corresponding to a trigger speech; a microphone; a communication interface; and a processor configured to identify whether a first speech signal received through the microphone corresponds to the trigger speech, obtain a first speech sharpness value of the first speech signal, obtain a second speech sharpness value from the at least one external device through the communication interface, based on the first speech sharpness value being greater than the second speech sharpness value, identify a speech command included in the second speech signal received through the microphone by entering a speech recognition mode, and control the electronic device based on the identifying of the speech command. Based on the speech command being unidentified, the processor controls the communication interface to transmit a control signal to the at least one external device based on the second speech sharpness value.