Vision-Based Voice Activation for Smart Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Smart display devices require users to repeatedly use a wake word for each voice command, leading to a cumbersome user experience and potential power consumption issues due to unnecessary activation of voice recognition.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a vision-based mechanism using a camera to detect the presence of a user's face and determine when to activate voice recognition, eliminating the need for a wake word and optimizing power usage by only activating voice recognition when the user is present.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If voice recognition is continuously activated to enable immediate voice command processing, then responsiveness and user experience are improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection using the camera to identify user presence before activating voice recognition. This preliminary action (visual detection) prepares the system in advance, allowing voice recognition to be activated only when needed, thus resolving the contradiction between responsiveness and power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces continuous acoustic monitoring (mechanical voice recognition activation) with optical detection (camera-based user presence detection). This substitution allows the system to determine when voice recognition should be activated based on visual cues rather than continuous audio processing, reducing power consumption while maintaining responsiveness.
2Reliability
If wake word is required for each voice command, then false activation is reduced, but user experience becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The camera acts as an intermediary between the user and the voice recognition system. By detecting user presence visually, the camera mediates the activation process, allowing the system to distinguish between genuine user intent and background noise, thus preventing false activation while simplifying the interaction process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary user presence detection before processing voice commands. This preliminary visual verification ensures that voice recognition is activated only when a user is actually present, maintaining reliability while eliminating the need for repetitive wake words and improving operational simplicity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances user experience by allowing seamless voice command execution without the need for wake words and reduces power consumption by intelligently managing voice recognition activation.
Implementation Method 1
A smart display device may include a camera that can capture one or more images of the surroundings of the smart display device
Data Source
AI summary
An image is received from a light capture device associated with the smart display device. A determination is made as to whether to activate voice recognition of a recording device associated with the smart display device based on a face being in the image. In response to determining to activate the voice recognition of the recording device associated with the smart display device based on the face being in the image, the voice recognition of the recording device associated with the smart display device is activated.