Vehicle Agent Question Filtering for Unanswerable Manual Queries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle agent systems, such as those described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-141500, face frustration for users when they cannot provide support for vehicle functionality due to missing or temporarily unavailable owner's manuals, leading to unhelpful responses like 'unknown' or 'not found'.
Innovation Solution
An agent device and system that includes a processor to receive vehicle information and question data, confirm the scope of questions for which responses are not possible, and instruct onboard devices to block such questions, utilizing a database of vehicle-to-owner's manual associations to manage unavailability and prevent user frustration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the agent system accepts all user questions, then user convenience is improved, but user frustration increases when responses cannot be provided
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary checks to confirm the scope of questions for which response generation is possible before accepting user questions. The processor confirms availability of owner's manuals and blocks questions for which responses cannot be provided, preventing frustration before it occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The processor acts as an intermediary between the user and the question-answering system. It mediates by filtering questions based on confirmed response capability, allowing only questions for which reliable answers can be provided to reach the user interface.
2Reliability
If the agent system blocks questions for which responses are not possible, then user frustration is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically confirming the scope of answerable questions and blocking inappropriate queries without requiring external intervention. The processor autonomously manages the filtering based on confirmed response capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter of question acceptance from unconditional to conditional. By confirming the scope of answerable questions as a prerequisite parameter, the system transforms its question-handling behavior to match response capabilities.
3Reliability
If the system confirms scope of answerable questions at startup, then response accuracy is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the scope confirmation action preliminarily at startup, before actual user questioning begins. This preliminary establishment of answerable question scopes prevents the need for repeated checks during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
Once the scope of answerable questions is confirmed at startup, this configuration continues to apply throughout the system's operation. The confirmed scope remains valid and reusable, eliminating the need for continuous re-confirmation during the questioning phase.
Data Source
AI summary
An agent device that receives, from an onboard device installed in a vehicle, vehicle information relating to the vehicle and question information corresponding to a question from a user, based on the vehicle information, confirms a scope of questions for which generation of a response is not possible, and instructs the onboard device to block receipt of questions falling within the scope of questions for which it has been confirmed that response generation is not possible.