Abstract: Systems and processes for operating an intercom system via a digital assistant are provided. The intercom system is trigger-free, in that users communicate, in real-time, via devices without employing a trigger to speak. Acoustic fingerprints are employed to associate users with devices. Acoustic fingerprints include vector embeddings of speech input in an acoustic-feature vector space. Speech heard at multiple devices, as embedded in a fingerprint, may be clustered in the vector space, and the structure of the clusters is employed to associate users and devices. Based on the fingerprints, a device is mapped to a user, and the user employs that device to participate in a conversation, via the intercom service.

Abstract: An appliance can include a microphone transducer configured to receive sound from an environment and to convert the received sound into an audio signal. The appliance can be configured to receive an input audio signal via the microphone transducer, responsive to an activation input. The appliance can be configured to initiate a bi-directional, wireless communication connection with an external device in parallel with receiving the input audio signal, and responsive to the activation input. The appliance can be configured to transmit an output audio signal corresponding to the input audio signal over the communication connection when the wireless communication connection is established. Related aspects also are described.

Abstract: Systems and processes for providing a virtual assistant service are provided. In accordance with one or more examples, a method includes receiving, from an accessory device communicatively coupled to the first electronic device, a representation of a speech input representing a user request. The method further includes detecting a second electronic device and transmitting, from the first electronic device, a representation of the user request and data associated with the detected second electronic device to a third electronic device. The method further includes receiving, from the third electronic device, a determination of whether a task is to be performed by the second electronic device in accordance with the user request; and in accordance with a determination that a task is to be performed by the second electronic device, requesting the second electronic device to performed the task in accordance with the user request.

Abstract: Systems and processes for providing a virtual assistant service are provided. In accordance with one or more examples, a method includes receiving, from an accessory device communicatively coupled to the first electronic device, a representation of a speech input representing a user request. The method further includes detecting a second electronic device and transmitting, from the first electronic device, a representation of the user request and data associated with the detected second electronic device to a third electronic device. The method further includes receiving, from the third electronic device, a determination of whether a task is to be performed by the second electronic device in accordance with the user request; and in accordance with a determination that a task is to be performed by the second electronic device, requesting the second electronic device to performed the task in accordance with the user request.

Abstract: Implementations of the subject technology provide systems and methods for determining whether to interrupt a user of an audio device that is operating in a noise-cancelling mode of operation. For example, the user may desire to be interrupted by one or more pre-designated contacts that are identified at an associated electronic device as interrupt-authorized contacts, or by a person who speaks a designated keyword to the user.

Abstract: Systems and processes for operating an intercom system via a digital assistant are provided. The intercom system is trigger-free, in that users communicate, in real-time, via devices without employing a trigger to speak. Acoustic fingerprints are employed to associate users with devices. Acoustic fingerprints include vector embeddings of speech input in an acoustic-feature vector space. Speech heard at multiple devices, as embedded in a fingerprint, may be clustered in the vector space, and the structure of the clusters is employed to associate users and devices. Based on the fingerprints, a device is mapped to a user, and the user employs that device to participate in a conversation, via the intercom service.

Abstract: An appliance can include a microphone transducer configured to receive sound from an environment and to convert the received sound into an audio signal. The appliance can be configured to receive an input audio signal via the microphone transducer, responsive to an activation input. The appliance can be configured to initiate a bi-directional, wireless communication connection with an external device in parallel with receiving the input audio signal, and responsive to the activation input. The appliance can be configured to transmit an output audio signal corresponding to the input audio signal over the communication connection when the wireless communication connection is established. Related aspects also are described.

Abstract: An electronic device with voice trigger suppression capability has a wireless communication module and a voice trigger response suppression module. The voice trigger suppression module is to monitor a signal to the speaker, to detect a voice trigger phrase therein and in response send a message through the wireless communication module that communicates to one or more wireless receiving devices that the electronic device, with voice trigger response suppression capability, will handle a voice trigger. Other aspects are also described and claimed.

Abstract: Systems and processes for providing a virtual assistant service are provided. In accordance with one or more examples, a method includes receiving, from an accessory device communicatively coupled to the first electronic device, a representation of a speech input representing a user request. The method further includes detecting a second electronic device and transmitting, from the first electronic device, a representation of the user request and data associated with the detected second electronic device to a third electronic device. The method further includes receiving, from the third electronic device, a determination of whether a task is to be performed by the second electronic device in accordance with the user request; and in accordance with a determination that a task is to be performed by the second electronic device, requesting the second electronic device to performed the task in accordance with the user request.

Abstract: Methods and systems to translate input labels of arcs of a network, corresponding to a sequence of states of the network, to a list of output grammar elements of the arcs, corresponding to a sequence of grammar elements. The network may include a plurality of speech recognition models combined with a weighted finite state machine transducer (WFST). Traversal may include active arc traversal, and may include active arc propagation. Arcs may be processed in parallel, including arcs originating from multiple source states and directed to a common destination state. Self-loops associated with states may be modeled within outgoing arcs of the states, which may reduce synchronization operations. Tasks may be ordered with respect to cache-data locality to associate tasks with processing threads based at least in part on whether another task associated with a corresponding data object was previously assigned to the thread.

Abstract: A processor is configured to transition in and out of a low-power state at a first rate and to operate in a first mode or a second mode. In a particular method, the processor while coupled to a coder/decoder (CODEC) retrieves audio feature data from a buffer after transitioning out of the low-power state. The CODEC is configured to operate at a second rate in the first mode and at a third rate in the second mode, the second rate and the third rate each greater than the first rate. The audio feature data indicates features of audio data received during the low-power state of the processor. A ratio of CODEC activity to processor activity in the second mode is less than the ratio in the first mode.

Abstract: A method for responding in an augmented reality (AR) application of a mobile device to an external sound is disclosed. The mobile device detects a target. A virtual object is initiated in the AR application. Further, the external sound is received, by at least one sound sensor of the mobile device, from a sound source. Geometric information between the sound source and the target is determined, and at least one response for the virtual object to perform in the AR application is generated based on the geometric information.

Abstract: A method for recognizing an environmental sound in a client device in cooperation with a server is disclosed. The client device includes a client database having a plurality of sound models of environmental sounds and a plurality of labels, each of which identifies at least one sound model. The client device receives an input environmental sound and generates an input sound model based on the input environmental sound. At the client device, a similarity value is determined between the input sound model and each of the sound models to identify one or more sound models from the client database that are similar to the input sound model. A label is selected from labels associated with the identified sound models, and the selected label is associated with the input environmental sound based on a confidence level of the selected label.

Abstract: A method for recognizing a text block in an object is disclosed. The text block includes a set of characters. A plurality of images of the object are captured and received. The object in the received images is then identified by extracting a pattern in one of the object images and comparing the extracted pattern with predetermined patterns. Further, a boundary of the object in each of the object images is detected and verified based on predetermined size information of the identified object. Text blocks in the object images are identified based on predetermined location information of the identified object. Interim sets of characters in the identified text blocks are generated based on format information of the identified object. Based on the interim sets of characters, a set of characters in the text block in the object is determined.

Abstract: A method includes tracking an object in each of a plurality of frames of video data to generate a tracking result. The method also includes performing object processing of a subset of frames of the plurality of frames selected according to a multi-frame latency of an object detector or an object recognizer. The method includes combining the tracking result with an output of the object processing to produce a combined output.

Abstract: The various aspects are directed to automatic device-to-device connection control. An aspect extracts a first sound signature, wherein the extracting the first sound signature comprises extracting a sound signature from a sound signal emanating from a certain direction, receives a second sound signature from a peer device, compares the first sound signature to the second sound signature, and pairs with the peer device. An aspect extracts a first sound signature, wherein the extracting the first sound signature comprises extracting a sound signature from a sound signal emanating from a certain direction, sends the first sound signature to a peer device, and pairs with the peer device. An aspect detects a beacon sound signal, wherein the beacon sound signal is detected from a certain direction, extracts a code embedded in the beacon sound signal, and pairs with a peer device.

Abstract: A system, apparatus and method for efficient, low power, finite state transducer decoding. For example, one embodiment of a system for performing speech recognition comprises: a processor to perform feature extraction on a plurality of digitally sampled speech frames and to responsively generate a feature vector; an acoustic model likelihood scoring unit communicatively coupled to the processor over a communication interconnect to compare the feature vector against a library of models of various known speech sounds and responsively generate a plurality of scores representing similarities between the feature vector and the models; and a weighted finite state transducer (WFST) decoder communicatively coupled to the processor and the acoustic model likelihood scoring unit over the communication interconnect to perform speech decoding by traversing a WFST graph using the plurality of scores provided by the acoustic model likelihood scoring unit.

Abstract: A method for generating an anti-model of a sound class is disclosed. A plurality of candidate sound data is provided for generating the anti-model. A plurality of similarity values between the plurality of candidate sound data and a reference sound model of a sound class is determined. An anti-model of the sound class is generated based on at least one candidate sound data having the similarity value within a similarity threshold range.

Abstract: A method for processing a multi-channel image is disclosed. The method includes generating a plurality of grayscale images from the multi-channel image. At least one text region is identified in the plurality of grayscale images and text region information is determined from the at least one text region. The method generates text information of the multi-channel image based on the text region information. If the at least one text region includes a plurality of text regions, text region information from the plurality of text regions is merged to generate the text information. The plurality of the grayscale images is processed in parallel. In identifying the at least one text region, at least one candidate text region may be identified in the plurality of grayscale images and the at least one text region may be identified in the identified candidate text region.

Abstract: A method for controlling an application in a mobile device is disclosed. The method includes receiving environmental information, inferring an environmental context from the environmental information, and controlling activation of the application based on a set of reference models associated with the inferred environmental context. In addition, the method may include receiving a sound input, extracting a sound feature from the sound input, transmitting the sound feature to a server configured to group a plurality of mobile devices into at least one similar context group, and receiving, from the server, information on a leader device or a non-leader device and the at least one similar context group.