Patents by Inventor Harry Bratt
Harry Bratt 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).
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Publication number: 20230260510Abstract: An automated interactive voice dialogue system using a human-in-the-loop design may enable human-supported interventions, where the automated system still conducts most of the interaction but enables a human agent to assume control of the dialogue and assist, if deemed necessary, so that the user may continue the interaction with little interruption or frustration. In some examples, the user of the dialogue system of this disclosure may not realize that there was a problem, and that the interaction is being or has switched from an automated dialogue system to a human. In some examples, the automated dialogue system of this disclosure may also automatically switch back to machine interaction when the human agent has resolved the situation.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 20, 2022Publication date: August 17, 2023Inventors: Dimitra Vergyri, Harry Bratt
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Publication number: 20220406292Abstract: A speech recognition module receives training data of speech and creates a representation for individual words, non-words, phonemes, and any combination. A set of speech processing detectors analyze the training data of speech from humans communicating. The set of speech processing detectors detect speech parameters that are indicative of paralinguistic effects on top of enunciated words, phonemes, and non-words in the audio stream. One or more machine learning models undergo supervised machine learning on their neural network to train on how to associate one or more mark-up markers with a textual representation, for each individual word, individual non-word, individual phoneme, and any combinations of these, that was enunciated with a particular paralinguistic effect. Each mark-up marker can correspond to its own paralinguistic effect.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 29, 2020Publication date: December 22, 2022Inventors: Harry Bratt, Colleen Richey, Maneesh Yadav
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Publication number: 20220115001Abstract: A voice-based digital assistant (VDA) uses a conversation intelligence (CI) manager module having a rule-based engine on conversational intelligence to process information from one or more modules to make determinations on both i) understanding the human conversational cues and ii) generating the human conversational cues, including at least understanding and generating a backchannel utterance, in a flow and exchange of human communication in order to at least one of grab or yield a conversational floor between a user and the VDA. The CI manager module uses the rule-based engine to analyze and make a determination on a conversational cue of, at least, prosody in a user's flow of speech to generate the backchannel utterance to signal any of i) an understanding, ii) a correction, iii) a confirmation, and iv) a questioning of verbal communications conveyed by the user in the flow of speech during a time frame when the user still holds the conversational floor.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 7, 2020Publication date: April 14, 2022Inventors: Harry Bratt, Kristin Precoda, Dimitra Vergyri
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Patent number: 11152016Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosed technologies include finding content of interest in an RF spectrum by automatically scanning the RF spectrum; detecting, in a range of frequencies of the RF spectrum that includes one or more undefined channels, a candidate RF segment; where the candidate RF segment includes a frequency-bound time segment of electromagnetic energy; executing a machine learning-based process to determine, for the candidate RF segment, signal characterization data indicative of one or more of: a frequency range, a modulation type, a timestamp; using the signal characterization data to determine whether audio contained in the candidate RF segment corresponds to a search criterion; in response to determining that the candidate RF segment corresponds to the search criterion, outputting, through an electronic device, data indicative of the candidate RF segment; where the data indicative of the candidate RF segment is output in a real-time time interval after the candidate RF segment is detected.Type: GrantFiled: May 8, 2019Date of Patent: October 19, 2021Assignee: SRI INTERNATIONALInventors: Aaron D. Lawson, Harry Bratt, Mitchell L. McLaren, Martin Graciarena
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Patent number: 11024291Abstract: In an embodiment, the disclosed technologies include automatically recognizing speech content of an audio stream that may contain multiple different classes of speech content, by receiving, by an audio capture device, an audio stream; outputting, by one or more classifiers, in response to an inputting to the one or more classifiers of digital data that has been extracted from the audio stream, score data; where a score of the score data indicates a likelihood that a particular time segment of the audio stream contains speech of a particular class; where the one or more classifiers use one or more machine-learned models that have been trained to recognize audio of one or more particular classes to determine the score data; using a sliding time window process, selecting particular scores from the score data; using the selected particular scores, determining and outputting one or more decisions as to whether one or more particular time segments of the audio stream contain speech of one or more particular classesType: GrantFiled: March 27, 2019Date of Patent: June 1, 2021Assignee: SRI INTERNATIONALInventors: Diego Castan Lavilla, Harry Bratt, Mitchell Leigh McLaren
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Publication number: 20200184997Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosed technologies include finding content of interest in an RF spectrum by automatically scanning the RF spectrum; detecting, in a range of frequencies of the RF spectrum that includes one or more undefined channels, a candidate RF segment; where the candidate RF segment includes a frequency-bound time segment of electromagnetic energy; executing a machine learning-based process to determine, for the candidate RF segment, signal characterization data indicative of one or more of: a frequency range, a modulation type, a timestamp; using the signal characterization data to determine whether audio contained in the candidate RF segment corresponds to a search criterion; in response to determining that the candidate RF segment corresponds to the search criterion, outputting, through an electronic device, data indicative of the candidate RF segment; where the data indicative of the candidate RF segment is output in a real-time time interval after the candidate RF segment is detected.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 8, 2019Publication date: June 11, 2020Inventors: Aaron D. Lawson, Harry Bratt, Mitchell L. McLaren, Martin Graciarena
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Publication number: 20200160845Abstract: In an embodiment, the disclosed technologies include automatically recognizing speech content of an audio stream that may contain multiple different classes of speech content, by receiving, by an audio capture device, an audio stream; outputting, by one or more classifiers, in response to an inputting to the one or more classifiers of digital data that has been extracted from the audio stream, score data; where a score of the score data indicates a likelihood that a particular time segment of the audio stream contains speech of a particular class; where the one or more classifiers use one or more machine-learned models that have been trained to recognize audio of one or more particular classes to determine the score data; using a sliding time window process, selecting particular scores from the score data; using the selected particular scores, determining and outputting one or more decisions as to whether one or more particular time segments of the audio stream contain speech of one or more particular classesType: ApplicationFiled: March 27, 2019Publication date: May 21, 2020Inventors: Diego Castan Lavilla, Harry Bratt, Mitchell Leigh McLaren
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Patent number: 10133538Abstract: An audio file analyzer computing system includes technologies to, among other things, localize audio events of interest (such as speakers of interest) within an audio file that includes multiple different classes (e.g., different speakers) of audio. The illustrative audio file analyzer computing system uses a seed segment to perform a semi-supervised diarization of the audio file. The seed segment is pre-selected, such as by a human person using an interactive graphical user interface.Type: GrantFiled: March 27, 2015Date of Patent: November 20, 2018Assignee: SRI InternationalInventors: Mitchell Leigh McLaren, Aaron Dennis Lawson, Harry Bratt
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Patent number: 9928832Abstract: A method for classifying lexical stress in an utterance includes generating a feature vector representing stress characteristics of a syllable occurring in the utterance, wherein the feature vector includes a plurality of features based on prosodic information and spectral information, computing a plurality of scores, wherein each of the plurality of scores is related to a probability of a given class of lexical stress, and classifying the lexical stress of the syllable based on the plurality of scores.Type: GrantFiled: June 30, 2014Date of Patent: March 27, 2018Assignee: SRI INTERNATIONALInventors: Horacio E. Franco, Luciana Ferrer, Harry Bratt, Colleen Richey, Kristin Precoda, Victor Abrash
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Patent number: 9798799Abstract: A vehicle personal assistant to engage a user in a conversational dialog about vehicle-related topics, such as those commonly found in a vehicle owner's manual, includes modules to interpret spoken natural language input, search a vehicle knowledge base and/or other data sources for pertinent information, and respond to the user's input in a conversational fashion. The dialog may be initiated by the user or more proactively by the vehicle personal assistant based on events that may be currently happening in relation to the vehicle. The vehicle personal assistant may use real-time inputs obtained from the vehicle and/or non-verbal inputs from the user to enhance its understanding of the dialog and assist the user in a variety of ways.Type: GrantFiled: November 15, 2012Date of Patent: October 24, 2017Assignee: SRI INTERNATIONALInventors: Michael J. Wolverton, William S. Mark, Harry Bratt, Douglas A. Bercow
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Publication number: 20170061316Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for tailoring the output of an intelligent automated assistant. One embodiment of a method for conducting an interaction with a human user includes collecting data about the user using a multimodal set of sensors positioned in a vicinity of the user, making a set of inferences about the user in accordance with the data, and tailoring an output to be delivered to the user in accordance with the set of inferences.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 16, 2016Publication date: March 2, 2017Inventors: Gokhan Tur, Horacio E. Franco, Elizabeth Shriberg, Gregory K. Myers, William S. Mark, Norman D. Winarsky, Andreas Stolcke, Bart Peintner, Michael J. Wolverton, Luciana Ferrer, Martin Graciarena, Neil Yorke-Smith, Harry Bratt
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Patent number: 9501743Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for tailoring the output of an intelligent automated assistant. One embodiment of a method for conducting an interaction with a human user includes collecting data about the user using a multimodal set of sensors positioned in a vicinity of the user, making a set of inferences about the user in accordance with the data, and tailoring an output to be delivered to the user in accordance with the set of inferences.Type: GrantFiled: December 2, 2015Date of Patent: November 22, 2016Assignee: SRI INTERNATIONALInventors: Gokhan Tur, Horacio E. Franco, Elizabeth Shriberg, Gregory K. Myers, William S. Mark, Norman D. Winarsky, Andreas Stolcke, Bart Peintner, Michael J. Wolverton, Luciana Ferrer, Martin Graciarena, Neil Yorke-Smith, Harry Bratt
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Publication number: 20160283185Abstract: An audio file analyzer computing system includes technologies to, among other things, localize audio events of interest (such as speakers of interest) within an audio file that includes multiple different classes (e.g., different speakers) of audio. The illustrative audio file analyzer computing system uses a seed segment to perform a semi-supervised diarization of the audio file. The seed segment is pre-selected, such as by a human person using an interactive graphical user interface.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 27, 2015Publication date: September 29, 2016Inventors: Mitchell Leigh McLaren, Aaron Dennis Lawson, Harry Bratt
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Publication number: 20160086090Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for tailoring the output of an intelligent automated assistant. One embodiment of a method for conducting an interaction with a human user includes collecting data about the user using a multimodal set of sensors positioned in a vicinity of the user, making a set of inferences about the user in accordance with the data, and tailoring an output to be delivered to the user in accordance with the set of inferences.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 2, 2015Publication date: March 24, 2016Inventors: Gokhan Tur, Horacio E. Franco, Elizabeth Shriberg, Gregory K. Myers, William S. Mark, Norman D. Winarsky, Andreas Stolcke, Bart Peinter, Michael J. Wolverton, Luciana Ferrer, Martin Graciarena, Neil Yorke-Smith, Harry Bratt
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Patent number: 9213558Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for tailoring the output of an intelligent automated assistant. One embodiment of a method for conducting an interaction with a human user includes collecting data about the user using a multimodal set of sensors positioned in a vicinity of the user, making a set of inferences about the user in accordance with the data, and tailoring an output to be delivered to the user in accordance with the set of inferences.Type: GrantFiled: September 1, 2010Date of Patent: December 15, 2015Assignee: SRI INTERNATIONALInventors: Gokhan Tur, Horacio E. Franco, Elizabeth Shriberg, Gregory K. Myers, William S. Mark, Norman D. Winarsky, Andreas Stolcke, Bart Peintner, Michael J. Wolverton, Luciana Ferrer, Martin Graciarena, Harry Bratt, Neil Yorke-Smith
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Patent number: 9085303Abstract: A vehicle personal assistant to engage a user in a conversational dialog about vehicle-related topics, such as those commonly found in a vehicle owner's manual, includes modules to interpret spoken natural language input, search a vehicle knowledge base and/or other data sources for pertinent information, and respond to the user's input in a conversational fashion. The dialog may be initiated by the user or more proactively by the vehicle personal assistant based on events that may be currently happening in relation to the vehicle. The vehicle personal assistant may use real-time inputs obtained from the vehicle and/or non-verbal inputs from the user to enhance its understanding of the dialog and assist the user in a variety of ways.Type: GrantFiled: November 15, 2012Date of Patent: July 21, 2015Assignee: SRI InternationalInventors: Michael J. Wolverton, William S. Mark, Harry Bratt, Douglas A. Bercow
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Publication number: 20150170644Abstract: A method for classifying lexical stress in an utterance includes generating a feature vector representing stress characteristics of a syllable occurring in the utterance, wherein the feature vector includes a plurality of features based on prosodic information and spectral information, computing a plurality of scores, wherein each of the plurality of scores is related to a probability of a given class of lexical stress, and classifying the lexical stress of the syllable based on the plurality of scores.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 30, 2014Publication date: June 18, 2015Inventors: Horacio E. Franco, Luciana Ferrer, Harry Bratt, Colleen Richey, Kristin Precoda, Victor Abrash
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Publication number: 20140136013Abstract: A vehicle personal assistant to engage a user in a conversational dialog about vehicle-related topics, such as those commonly found in a vehicle owner's manual, includes modules to interpret spoken natural language input, search a vehicle knowledge base and/or other data sources for pertinent information, and respond to the user's input in a conversational fashion. The dialog may be initiated by the user or more proactively by the vehicle personal assistant based on events that may be currently happening in relation to the vehicle. The vehicle personal assistant may use real-time inputs obtained from the vehicle and/or non-verbal inputs from the user to enhance its understanding of the dialog and assist the user in a variety of ways.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 15, 2012Publication date: May 15, 2014Applicant: SRI InternationalInventors: Michael J. Wolverton, William S. Mark, Harry Bratt, Douglas A. Bercow
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Publication number: 20140136187Abstract: A vehicle personal assistant to engage a user in a conversational dialog about vehicle-related topics, such as those commonly found in a vehicle owner's manual, includes modules to interpret spoken natural language input, search a vehicle knowledge base and/or other data sources for pertinent information, and respond to the user's input in a conversational fashion. The dialog may be initiated by the user or more proactively by the vehicle personal assistant based on events that may be currently happening in relation to the vehicle. The vehicle personal assistant may use real-time inputs obtained from the vehicle and/or non-verbal inputs from the user to enhance its understanding of the dialog and assist the user in a variety of ways.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 15, 2012Publication date: May 15, 2014Applicant: SRI INTERNATIONALInventors: Michael J. Wolverton, William S. Mark, Harry Bratt, Douglas A. Bercow
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Patent number: 7533020Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for performing speech recognition using observable and meaningful relationships between words within a single utterance and using a structured data source as a source of constraints on the recognition process. Results from a first constrained speech recognition pass can be combined with information about the observable and meaningful word relationships to constrain or simplify subsequent recognition passes. This iterative process greatly reduces the search space required for each recognition pass, making the speech recognition process more efficient, faster and accurate.Type: GrantFiled: February 23, 2005Date of Patent: May 12, 2009Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc.Inventors: James F. Arnold, Michael W. Frandsen, Anand Venkataraman, Douglas A. Bercow, Gregory K. Myers, David J. Israel, Venkata Ramana Rao Gadde, Horacio Franco, Harry Bratt