Patents by Inventor Andrew Breen

Andrew Breen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10720078
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and products for language learning that may extract text from various resources having text, using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a resource, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning and academic exercises. Metadata describing various aspects of resources from which keywords are extracted may be associated with keywords. Metadata describing various aspects of keywords may also be associated with keywords. Extracted keywords may be stored into a keyword store along with any metadata associated with keywords.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: VOXY, INC
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen, Kasey Kirkham
  • Publication number: 20190385481
    Abstract: A systems, methods, and products for language learning software that automatically extracts text from corpora using various natural-language processing product features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a text, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning, assign a difficulty score to the text using various linguistic attributes of the text, generate a list of potential distractors for each keyword in the text to implement in learning activities, and topically tag the text against a taxonomy based on the content. This output is then used in conjunction with a series of learning activity-types designed to meet learners' language skill needs and then used to create dynamic, adaptive activities for them.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2019
    Publication date: December 19, 2019
    Inventors: Katharine NIELSON, Kasey KIRKHAM, Na'im TYSON, Andrew BREEN
  • Publication number: 20190362649
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning that automatically extracts keywords from resources using various natural-language processing product features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive resources having text and then determine a text difficulty score that predicts how difficult the resource is for language learners based on any number of factors, including any number of semantic and syntactic features of the text. Training resources labeled with metadata may be used to train a statistical model for determining difficulty scores of newly received text. Resources may be grouped based on difficulty score, and groups of resources language learners' proficiency levels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2019
    Publication date: November 28, 2019
    Inventors: Katharine NIELSON, Kasey KIRKHAM, Na'im TYSON, Andrew BREEN
  • Patent number: 10438509
    Abstract: A systems, methods, and products for language learning software that automatically extracts text from corpora using various natural-language processing product features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a text, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning, assign a difficulty score to the text using various linguistic attributes of the text, generate a list of potential distractors for each keyword in the text to implement in learning activities, and topically tag the text against a taxonomy based on the content. This output is then used in conjunction with a series of learning activity-types designed to meet learners' language skill needs and then used to create dynamic, adaptive activities for them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: Voxy, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Kasey Kirkham, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen
  • Publication number: 20190304337
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and products for language learning that may extract text from various resources having text, using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a resource, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning and academic exercises. Metadata describing various aspects of resources from which keywords are extracted may be associated with keywords. Metadata describing various aspects of keywords may also be associated with keywords. Extracted keywords may be stored into a keyword store along with any metadata associated with keywords.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Inventors: Katharine NIELSON, Na'im TYSON, Andrew BREEN, Kasey KIRKHAM
  • Patent number: 10410539
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning that automatically extracts keywords from resources using various natural-language processing product features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive resources having text and then determine a text difficulty score that predicts how difficult the resource is for language learners based on any number of factors, including any number of semantic and syntactic features of the text. Training resources labeled with metadata may be used to train a statistical model for determining difficulty scores of newly received text. Resources may be grouped based on difficulty score, and groups of resources may correspond to language learners' proficiency levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: Voxy, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Kasey Kirkham, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen
  • Patent number: 10325517
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and products for language learning may extract text from various resources having text, using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a resource, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning and academic exercises. Metadata describing various aspects of resources from which keywords are extracted may be associated with keywords. Metadata describing various aspects of keywords may also be associated with keywords. Extracted keywords may be stored into a keyword store along with any metadata associated with keywords.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: VOXY, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen, Kasey Kirkham
  • Publication number: 20190103038
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning software that automatically extracts text from resources using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a text, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning, assign a difficulty score to the text using various linguistic attributes of the text, generate a list of potential distractors for each keyword related to a resource to implement in learning activities. Distractors may be of various types, which are dynamically selected from a distractor store depending on a learning activity chosen to meet a learner's needs. Distractors may vary in difficulty, and may be dynamically selected based on a learner's overall proficiency or based on a learner's abilities in specific language skills.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Katharine NIELSON, Kasey KIRKHAM, Na'im TYSON, Andrew BREEN
  • Patent number: 10147336
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning software that automatically extracts text from resources using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a text, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning, assign a difficulty score to the text using various linguistic attributes of the text, generate a list of potential distractors for each keyword related to a resource to implement in learning activities. Distractors may be of various types, which are dynamically selected from a distractor store depending on a learning activity chosen to meet a learner's needs. Distractors may vary in difficulty, and may be dynamically selected based on a learner's overall proficiency or based on a learner's abilities in specific language skills.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Voxy, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Kasey Kirkham, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen
  • Publication number: 20180108273
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning that may extract text from various resources having text, using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a resource, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning and academic exercises. Metadata describing various aspects of resources from which keywords are extracted may be associated with keywords. Metadata describing various aspects of keywords may also be associated with keywords. Extracted keywords may be stored into a keyword store along with any metadata associated with keywords.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Publication date: April 19, 2018
    Inventors: Katharine NIELSON, Na'im TYSON, Andrew BREEN, Kasey KIRKHAM
  • Patent number: 9875669
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning software that automatically extracts text from resources using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a text, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning, assign a difficulty score to the text using various linguistic attributes of the text, generate a list of potential distractors for each keyword related to a resource to implement in learning activities. Distractors may be of various types, which are dynamically selected from a distractor store depending on a learning activity chosen to meet a learner's needs. Distractors may vary in difficulty, and may be dynamically selected based on a learner's overall proficiency or based on a learner's abilities in specific language skills.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: VOXY, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Kasey Kirkham, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen
  • Patent number: 9852655
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and products for language learning that may determine a level score of a learner based upon responsive inputs received from the learner during sessions. A pedagogical value threshold is determined based upon the level score of the learner and a resource difficulty score of a resource containing text having one or more words. Each word having a word difficulty score satisfying the pedagogical value threshold is stored into a non-transitory machine-readable storage media keyword store.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: VOXY, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Kasey Kirkham, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen
  • Patent number: 9798653
    Abstract: Adapted speech models produce fluent synthesized speech in a voice that sounds as if the speaker were fluent in a language in which the speaker is actually non-fluent. A full speech model is obtained based on fluent speech in the language spoken by a first person who is fluent in the language. A limited set of utterances is obtained in the language spoken by a second person who is non-fluent in the language but able to speak the limited set of utterances in the language. The full speech model of the first person is then processed with the limited set of utterances of the second person to produce an adapted speech model. The adapted speech model may be stored to a multi-lingual speech model as a child node of a root with an associated language selection question and branches pointed to the adapted speech model and other speech models, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Xu Shao, Andrew Breen
  • Publication number: 20170270823
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning software that automatically extracts text from resources using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a text, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning, assign a difficulty score to the text using various linguistic attributes of the text, generate a list of potential distractors for each keyword related to a resource to implement in learning activities. Distractors may be of various types, which are dynamically selected from a distractor store depending on a learning activity chosen to meet a learner's needs. Distractors may vary in difficulty, and may be dynamically selected based on a learner's overall proficiency or based on a learner's abilities in specific language skills.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2017
    Publication date: September 21, 2017
    Inventors: Katharine NIELSON, Kasey Kirkham, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen
  • Publication number: 20170256178
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning that automatically extracts keywords from resources using various natural-language processing product features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive resources having text and then determine a text difficulty score that predicts how difficult the resource is for language learners based on any number of factors, including any number of semantic and syntactic features of the text. Training resources labeled with metadata may be used to train a statistical model for determining difficulty scores of newly received text. Resources may be grouped based on difficulty score, and groups of resources may correspond to language learners' proficiency levels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2017
    Publication date: September 7, 2017
    Inventors: Katharine NIELSON, Kasey KIRKHAM, Na'im TYSON, Andrew BREEN
  • Publication number: 20170256179
    Abstract: A systems, methods, and products for language learning software that automatically extracts text from corpora using various natural-language processing product features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a text, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning, assign a difficulty score to the text using various linguistic attributes of the text, generate a list of potential distractors for each keyword in the text to implement in learning activities, and topically tag the text against a taxonomy based on the content. This output is then used in conjunction with a series of learning activity-types designed to meet learners' language skill needs and then used to create dynamic, adaptive activities for them.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2017
    Publication date: September 7, 2017
    Inventors: Katharine NIELSON, Kasey KIRKHAM, Na'im TYSON, Andrew BREEN
  • Patent number: 9711064
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and products for language learning that automatically extracts keywords from resources using various natural-language processing product features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive resources having text and then determine a text difficulty score that predicts how difficult the resource is for language learners based on any number of factors, including any number of semantic and syntactic features of the text. Training resources labeled with metadata may be used to train a statistical model for determining difficulty scores of newly received text. Resources may be grouped based on difficulty score, and groups of resources may correspond to language learners' proficiency levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: VOXY, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Kasey Kirkham, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen
  • Patent number: 9666098
    Abstract: A systems, methods, and products for language learning software that automatically extracts text from corpora using various natural-language processing product features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a text, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning, assign a difficulty score to the text using various linguistic attributes of the text, generate a list of potential distractors for each keyword in the text to implement in learning activities, and topically tag the text against a taxonomy based on the content. This output is then used in conjunction with a series of learning activity-types designed to meet learners' language skill needs and then used to create dynamic, adaptive activities for them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: VOXY, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Nielson, Kasey Kirkham, Na'im Tyson, Andrew Breen
  • Patent number: 9520123
    Abstract: A system and method for concatenative speech synthesis is provided. Embodiments may include accessing, using one or more computing devices, a plurality of speech synthesis units from a speech database and determining a similarity between the plurality of speech synthesis units. Embodiments may further include retrieving two or more speech synthesis units having the similarity and pruning at least one of the two or more speech synthesis units based upon, at least in part, the similarity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Heng Lu, Xu Shao, Wei Zhang, Wenhui Lei, Andrew Breen
  • Publication number: 20160275934
    Abstract: A system and method for concatenative speech synthesis is provided. Embodiments may include accessing, using one or more computing devices, a plurality of speech synthesis units from a speech database and determining a similarity between the plurality of speech synthesis units. Embodiments may further include retrieving two or more speech synthesis units having the similarity and pruning at least one of the two or more speech synthesis units based upon, at least in part, the similarity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Publication date: September 22, 2016
    Inventors: Heng Lu, Xu Shao, Wei Zhang, Wenhui Lei, Andrew Breen