Abstract: A method of complementing a spoken text. The method including receiving text data representative of a natural language text, receiving effect control data including at least one effect control record, each effect control record being associated with a respective location in the natural language text, receiving a stream of audio data, analyzing the stream of audio data for natural language utterances that correlate with the natural language text at a respective one of the locations, and outputting, in response to a determination by the analyzing that a natural language utterance in the stream of audio data correlates with a respective one of the locations, at least one effect control signal based on the effect control record associated with the respective location.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for computing numeric representations of words. One of the methods includes obtaining a set of training data, wherein the set of training data comprises sequences of words; training a classifier and an embedding function on the set of training data, wherein training the embedding function comprises obtained trained values of the embedding function parameters; processing each word in the vocabulary using the embedding function in accordance with the trained values of the embedding function parameters to generate a respective numerical representation of each word in the vocabulary in the high-dimensional space; and associating each word in the vocabulary with the respective numeric representation of the word in the high-dimensional space.

Abstract: In an automated Question Answer (QA) system architecture for automatic open-domain Question Answering, a system, method and computer program product for predicting the Lexical Answer Type (LAT) of a question. The approach is completely unsupervised and is based on a large-scale lexical knowledge base automatically extracted from a Web corpus. This approach for predicting the LAT can be implemented as a specific subtask of a QA process, and/or used for general purpose knowledge acquisition tasks such as frame induction from text.

Abstract: According to one aspect, a computer-implemented method for entity resolution is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes generating a semantic hash for an entity having an assigned entity identifier (ID) and, upon the occurrence of an entity milestone, changing the entity ID. The method further includes generating a semantic hash for the entity having the changed entity ID, and maintaining history information associated with the entity and corresponding entity IDs and semantic hashes over a period of time that includes a plurality of entity milestones. The method also includes periodically removing at least one set of older entities and retaining entity IDs and semantic hashes associated with the removed entities.

Abstract: The invention provides a system, method, and business model for an information system and service having business self-promotion, promotion and promotion tracking, loyalty or frequent participant rewards and redemption, audio coupon, ratings, and other features. A business or organization in which consumers call into a service using ordinary telephone, PC, PDA, or other information appliance, and make requests in plain speech for information on goods and/or services, and the service provides responses to the request in plain speech in real-time.

Abstract: Transferring data via audio link is described. In an example a short sequence of data can be transferred between two devices by encoding the sequence of data as an audio sequence. For example, the audio sequence may be a sequence of tones which vary in dependence on the encoded data. The sequence of data may be encoded by a first device and transmitted using a loudspeaker associated with the first device. At least one mobile communications device can be used to capture the audio sequence, for example using a microphone, and to decode the sequence, retrieving the data encoded therein. In some examples the encoded data may comprise a shortened URL or other information which can be used to control one or more aspects of the capture device.

Abstract: Determining variants of a text entity comprises parsing the text entity into semantic components and generating variants for each of the semantic components. The entity is recomposed in different morphological forms from the different variants of the semantic components.

Abstract: Techniques to normalize names for name-based speech recognition grammars are described. Some embodiments are particularly directed to techniques to normalize names for name-based speech recognition grammars more efficiently by caching, and on a per-culture basis. A technique may comprise receiving a name for normalization, during name processing for a name-based speech grammar generating process. A normalization cache may be examined to determine if the name is already in the cache in a normalized form. When the name is not already in the cache, the name may be normalized and added to the cache. When the name is in the cache, the normalization result may be retrieved and passed to the next processing step. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Abstract: Some implementations provide techniques and arrangements to perform automated translation from a source language to a target language. For example, an out-of-vocabulary word may be identified and a morphological analysis may be performed to determine whether the out-of-vocabulary word reduces to at least one stem. If the out-of-vocabulary word reduces to a stem, the stem may be translated. The translated stem may be inflected if the out-of-vocabulary word is inflected. If the out-of-vocabulary word has any affixes, the affixes may be translated. In some cases, the translated affixes may be reordered before being combined with the inflected and translated stem. If the out-of-vocabulary word is misspelled, the spelling of the out-of-vocabulary word may be corrected before performing the morphological analysis. If the out-of-vocabulary word is a colloquial form of a formal word, the out-of-vocabulary word may be replaced with the formal word before performing the morphological analysis.

Abstract: There is provided a speech processing apparatus including: a data obtaining unit which obtains music progression data defining a property of one or more time points or one or more time periods along progression of music; a determining unit which determines an output time point at which a speech is to be output during reproducing the music by utilizing the music progression data obtained by the data obtaining unit; and an audio output unit which outputs the speech at the output time point determined by the determining unit during reproducing the music.

Abstract: A computer program product is provided and includes a non-transitory tangible storage medium readable by a processing circuit and on which instructions are stored for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method. The method includes enabling retrieval of a keyboard pressed sequence of characters of a first type, permitting a re-selection of characters of a second type, which are associated with the keyboard pressed sequence of the characters of the first type and permitting modification of the keyboard pressed sequence of the characters of the first type to initiate a search for and retrieval of characters of the second type.

Abstract: In one embodiment, indexing content in streamed data includes receiving streams of audio data encoding a recording of a live ongoing group communication, where each stream of audio data encodes a different one of multiple voices. Each of the streams of audio data is provided to a recognizer to cause separate recognition of words in each of the streams. The recognized words are indexed to corresponding locations in each of the streams, and the streams are combined into a combined stream of audio data by synchronizing at least one common location in the streams. Embodiments allow accurate recognition of speech in group communications in which multiple speakers have simultaneously spoken, and accurate search of content encoded and processed from such speech.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for utterance verification are provided for verifying a recognized vocabulary output from speech recognition. The apparatus for utterance verification includes a reference score accumulator, a verification score generator and a decision device. A log-likelihood score obtained from speech recognition is processed by taking a logarithm of the value of the probability of one of feature vectors of an input speech conditioned on one of states of each model vocabulary. A verification score is generated based on the processed result. The verification score is compared with a predetermined threshold value so as to reject or accept the recognized vocabulary.

Abstract: Multi-lingual translation for third party content feed applications is provided in social network and similar environments in an independent manner from the content feed. A copy of a content feed may be distributed to consumers via content feed channels of a social network or similar service with language specific views. Translation is performed post-content feed based on tagged format of the content feed translating language dependent text into a selected (or detected) language for a user and leaving language independent text in its original form. Support for new languages may be added or existing languages removed independent of the content feed.

Abstract: Apparatus, system and method for performing an action such as accessing supplementary data and/or executing software on a device capable of receiving multimedia are disclosed. After multimedia is received, a monitoring code is detected and a signature is extracted in response thereto from an audio portion of the multimedia. The ancillary code includes a plurality of code symbols arranged in a plurality of layers in a predetermined time period, and the signature is extracted from features of the audio of the multimedia. Supplementary data is accessed and/or software is executed using the detected code and/or signature.

Abstract: Features are disclosed for providing a consistent interface for local and distributed text to speech (TTS) systems. Some portions of the TTS system, such as voices and TTS engine components, may be installed on a client device, and some may be present on a remote system accessible via a network link. Determinations can be made regarding which TTS system components to implement on the client device and which to implement on the remote server. The consistent interface facilitates connecting to or otherwise employing the TTS system through use of the same methods and techniques regardless of the which TTS system configuration is implemented.

Abstract: A voice data analyzing device comprises speaker model deriving means which derives speaker models as models each specifying character of voice of each speaker from voice data including a plurality of utterances to each of which a speaker label as information for identifying a speaker has been assigned and speaker co-occurrence model deriving means which derives a speaker co-occurrence model as a model representing the strength of co-occurrence relationship among the speakers from session data obtained by segmenting the voice data in units of sequences of conversation by use of the speaker models derived by the speaker model deriving means.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus and a signal processing method, an encoder and an encoding method, a decoder and a decoding method, and a program capable of reproducing music signal having a better sound quality by expansion of frequency band. A high band decoding circuit decodes high band encoded data outputs a coefficient table having coefficients for the respective high band sub-bands, which are specified by a coefficient index obtained as a result of decoding. A decoding high band sub-band power calculation circuit calculates decoded high band sub-band powers for the respective high band sub-bands based on low band signals and the coefficient table, and a decoded high band signal production unit produces decoded high band signals from these decoded high band sub-band powers.

Abstract: A state detecting device includes an input unit that receives an input voice sound; an analyzer that calculates a feature parameter of each of plurality of frames extracted from the voice sound; a calculator that calculates the average of the feature parameters of the frames, determines a threshold on the basis of the average and statistical data representing relationships between other averages of other feature parameters obtained from a plurality of speakers and cumulative frequencies of the other feature parameters, and calculates an appearance frequency of a frame that is among the plurality of frames and whose feature parameter is larger than the threshold; a determining unit that determines, on the basis of the appearance frequency, a strained state of a vocal cord that has made the voice sound; and an output unit that outputs a result of the determination.

Abstract: A computer-implemented technique includes determining, at a computing device including one or more processors, one or more scripts in which a user is capable of inputting text. The technique includes determining, at the computing device, whether at least one of the one or more scripts is a script having a right-to-left (RTL) writing directionality. The technique also includes automatically outputting, at the computing device: (i) a first user interface when at least one of the one or more scripts is a script having an RTL writing directionality, wherein the first user interface is configured to allow the user to adjust the writing directionality at the computing device, or (ii) a second user interface when none of the one or more scripts is a script having an RTL writing directionality, wherein the second user interface is not configured to allow the user to adjust the writing directionality at the computing device.