The present invention relates to a user interface in a recognition process of input data
In recent years, various user interfaces that use recognition techniques such as a speech recognition technique, text recognition technique, and the like have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-160289 has proposed a user interface which allows the user to easily correct recognition results, which cannot be determined by a speech recognition apparatus, in correspondence with input speech. With this user interface, the user can easily correct recognition results that cannot be recognized.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-48040 has proposed a user interface which records input speech and plays it back for a partner user to make him or her confirm in a private branch exchange which recognizes the callee's name uttered by a caller. In this way, even when a wrong recognition result is obtained, the partner user can recognize it by hearing the playback tone. Hence, when the partner user notices a wrong recognition result, he or she can correct it by himself or herself.
However, with both the prior arts, when an error has occurred during a recognition process, or when a wrong recognition result is obtained, the user himself or herself must correct it, resulting in poor convenience. Even when a recognition result is correct, if an error has occurred upon executing a post-process (e.g., a translation process) using the recognition result, the user himself or herself must correct it.
On the other hand, it is difficult to register all words and phrases including proper nouns in a grammar and standard patterns for recognition, and improvement of the recognition rate has its limits. For this reason, when an error has occurred during a recognition process or a post-process using the recognition result, it is desired to save labor required for user's correction as much as possible.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to save labor required for the user's correction and improve user's convenience even when an error has occurred during recognition of input data or a post-process using the recognition result in an information processing apparatus which recognizes input data and outputs the recognition result.
In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement.
That is, an information processing apparatus comprises:
recording means for recording input data;
recognition means for recognizing the input data;
determination means for determining whether or not the recognition means can recognize the input data; and
output means for, when the determination means determines that the recognition means can recognize the input data, outputting data generated based on a recognition result of the recognition means, and for, when the determination means determines that the recognition means cannot recognize the input data, outputting output data generated based on the input data which is recorded in the recording means.
According to this invention, even when an error has occurred during recognition of input data or a post-process using the recognition result in an information processing apparatus which recognizes input data and outputs the recognition result, labor required for user's correction can be saved and user's convenience can be improved.
Features and advantages of the present invention will be sufficiently understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The communication unit 102 is connected to a network and makes data communications with external devices and the like. The operation unit 103 includes buttons, a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, pen, tablet, and the like, and is used to operate the apparatus. The storage unit 104 comprises a storage medium such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, hard disk device, or the like, and stores application programs, input text data, image data, speech data, and the like. The display unit 105 comprises a display device such as a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays pictures, text, and the like.
The OCR unit 106 optically reads handwritten or printed characters, specifies characters by collation with patterns which are stored in advance, and inputs text data. The OCR unit 106 may comprise a scanner, and OCR software which identifies characters from read images, and converts the characters into document data. The control unit 107 comprises a work memory, microcomputer, and the like, and reads out and executes programs stored in the storage unit 104. The speech input unit 108 includes a microphone and the like, and inputs speech uttered by the user. The speech output unit 109 comprises a loudspeaker, headphone, or the like, and outputs speech synthesized by the speech synthesis unit 110, speech stored in the storage unit 104, and the like. The speech synthesis unit 110 generates synthetic speech of text stored in the storage unit 104. The speech recognition unit 111 applies speech recognition to speech input via the speech input unit 108. As the speech recognition technique and speech synthesis technique, existing ones are used.
A feature of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
When the user recognizes beforehand that a word or phrase to be input is a word or phrase which is not registered in the recognition grammar or a word or phrase which cannot undergo, e.g., a translation process or the like, he or she can select a recording/playback mode in which input speech is recorded, and a speech synthesis output generated from a defined sentence, and playback of the recorded input speech are combined upon output. The speech recognition technique, speech synthesis technique, and translation technique use existing ones.
Various operations of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described below using examples shown in
By contrast,
In the example of
When the user recognizes beforehand that a word or phrase to be input is a word or phrase which is not registered in the recognition grammar or a word or phrase which cannot undergo, e.g., a translation process or the like, he or she can select a recording/playback mode in which input speech is recorded, and a speech synthesis output generated from a defined sentence, and playback of the recorded input speech are combined upon output. As shown in
The aforementioned operations will be described below using the flowchart shown in
On the other hand, if the speech recognition mode is selected and speech is input, the input speech is recognized (step S707), and is recorded (step S708). If the user's input word or phrase is not registered in the speech recognition grammar, if an error has occurred during the recognition process, or if the recognition result has a low certainty factor (e.g., 30% or less) (i.e., if “NO” in step S709), a speech synthesis output generated from a defined sentence, and playback of the recorded input speech are combined (step S710,
In the translation process, if no corresponding English translation of the recognition result is registered, if an error has occurred during the translation process of the recognition result, or if the translation result has a low certainty factor (e.g., 30% or less) (i.e., if “NO” in step S712), a speech synthesis output generated from a defined sentence, and playback of the recorded input speech are combined (step S710,
As described above, according to this embodiment, input speech is recorded, and when a word or phrase which is not registered in the speech recognition grammar is input, when an error has occurred during speech recognition, when the recognition result has a low certainty factor, when no corresponding English translation is registered in the system, when an error has occurred during the translation process, or when the processing result has a low certainty factor, a speech synthesis output generated from a defined sentence, and playback of the recorded input speech are output in combination, thus reducing the number of times of user's manual correction upon occurrence of a recognition error or any other errors, and improving the convenience.
An information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The first embodiment has exemplified a case wherein speech is recognized. This embodiment will exemplify a case wherein handwritten characters are recognized. Note that the apparatus arrangement is the same as that shown in
When the user recognizes beforehand that characters (word or phrase) to be input are not registered in the standard patterns for recognition, or cannot undergo a translation process or the like, he or she can select a recording/output mode in which an input character image is recorded, and a text output of a defined sentence and an output of the recorded input character image are combined upon output. The text output technique and translation technique use existing ones.
Various operations of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described below using examples shown in
” in Japanese. As a result, a generated sentence “
? is output as text. Note that the output may be made using synthetic speech of the text in addition to the text output.
By contrast, ?” is output as text. At this time, a text message, icon, or voice message indicating that the user's input characters are not registered in standard patterns for character recognition, an error has occurred during character recognition, or the recognition result has a low certainty factor, may be output.
In the example of ?” is output as text. At this time, a text message, icon, or voice message indicating that no corresponding Japanese translation is registered, an error has occurred during the translation process, or the translation result has a low certainty factor may be output. In the translation process, when no corresponding Japanese translation of the recognition result “the Tokyo Towr” is registered in the system, text “the Tokyo Towr” as the recognition result may be output, and “the Tokyo Towr
?” may be output as text.
When the user recognizes before hand that characters to be input are a word or phrase which is not registered in the standard patterns for recognition, or no corresponding Japanese translation is registered, he or she can select a recording/output mode in which an input character image is recorded, and a text output of a defined sentence and an output of the recorded input character image are combined upon output. As shown in ?” is output as text. At this time, a text message, icon, or voice message indicating that the recorded input character image is output may be output.
The aforementioned operations will be explained below using the flowchart of
On the other hand, if the character recognition mode is selected and characters are input (step S1306), the input characters are recognized (step S1307), and the input character image is recorded (step S1308). If the user's input characters are not registered in the standard patterns for character recognition, if an error has occurred during the recognition process, or if the recognition result has a low certainty factor (e.g., 30% or less) (i.e., if “NO” in step S1309), a text output of a defined sentence and an output of the recorded input character image are combined (step S1310,
Note that the character recognition may use image recognition that exploits an existing image recognition technique, and text according to the user's input image may be output after translation or the recorded input image may be output.
As described above, according to the second embodiment, an input character image is recorded, and when characters unregistered in the standard patterns for character recognition, when an error has occurred during character recognition, when the recognition result has a low certainty factor, when no corresponding Japanese translation is registered in the system, when an error has occurred during the translation process, or when the processing result has a low certainty factor, a text output of a defined sentence and an output of the recorded input character image are displayed in combination, thus reducing the number of times of user's manual correction upon occurrence of a recognition error or any other errors, and improving the convenience.
Note that the present invention may be applied to either a system constituted by a plurality of devices (e.g., a host computer, interface device, reader, printer, and the like), or an apparatus consisting of a single equipment (e.g., a copying machine, facsimile apparatus, or the like).
The objects of the present invention are also achieved by supplying a storage medium, which contains a program code of a software program that can implement the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments to the system or apparatus. The program code is then read and executed by a computer (or a CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus.
In this case, the program code, itself, read out from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments, and the storage medium which stores the program code constitutes the present invention.
As the storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy® disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, and the like may be used.
The functions of the above-mentioned embodiments may be implemented either by executing the readout program code with the computer or by executing instructions of the program code like some or all of actual processing operations executed by an OS (operating system) running on the computer.
Furthermore, the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments may be implemented by some or all of actual processing operations executed by a CPU or the like arranged in a function extension board or a function extension unit, which is inserted in or connected to the computer. Once the program code is read out from the storage medium, it is written in a memory of the extension board or unit.
As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.
This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-378877 filed on Nov. 7, 2003 which is hereby incorporated herein by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2003-378877 | Nov 2003 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2004/016195 | 10/26/2004 | WO | 00 | 4/27/2006 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2005/045804 | 5/19/2005 | WO | A |
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