Abstract: Search interfaces, systems, and methods are presented. Contemplated search interfaces allow electronic devices to capture multi-modal interaction data, including audio signals. A dialog interface capable of interacting with a user processes the interaction data and communicates with a user to establish a desirable query interpretation. Further, the dialog interface can identify a target search engine for a corresponding query based on modalities of the interaction data beyond the data represented by the audio signal.

Abstract: A device interface system is presented. Contemplated device interfaces allow for construction of complex device behaviors by aggregating device functions. The behaviors are triggered based on conditions derived from environmental data about the device.

Abstract: Methods for initiating actions based on analysis of multi-dimensional interactions are presented. Electronic devices can acquire sensor data representing interactions among multiple entities. Analysis engines can use the interaction data to create or otherwise manage interaction guide queues based on conceptual threads associated with the interactions. Interaction guides within the queue comprise instructions, possibly domain-specific instructions, for devices to participate in the interactions. Contemplated engines manage the queues as a function of attributes, for example priority, derived from the interactions.

Abstract: A virtual assistant learning system is presented. A monitoring device, a cell phone for example, observes user interactions with an environment by acquiring sensor data. The monitoring device uses the sensor data to identify the interactions, which in turn is provided to an inference engine. The inference engine leverages the interaction data and previously stored knowledge elements about the user to determine if the interaction exhibits one or more user preferences. The inference engine can use the preferences and interactions to construct queries targeting search engines to seek out possible future interactions that might be of interest to the user.

Abstract: The invention enables creation of grammar networks that can regulate, control, and define the content and scope of human-machine interaction in natural language voice user interfaces (NLVUI). More specifically, the invention concerns a phrase-based modeling of generic structures of verbal interaction and use of these models for the purpose of automating part of the design of such grammar networks.

Abstract: The invention enables creation of grammar networks that can regulate, control, and define the content and scope of human-machine interaction in natural language voice user interfaces (NLVUI). The invention enables phrase-based modeling of generic structures of verbal interaction to be used for the purpose of automating part of the design of such grammar networks. Most particularly, the invention enables such grammar networks to be used in providing a voice-controlled user interface to human readable text data that is also machine-readable (such as a Web page, a word processing document, a PDF document, or a spreadsheet).