Abstract: A voice dialogue system includes: a voice input unit which acquires a user utterance, a dialogue text creator which creates a text of a system utterance, a voice output unit which outputs the system utterance as voice data, and a setting unit that sets a response deadline for system utterances. When a first system utterance is output by the voice output unit, a second system utterance is output after the first system utterance without having acquired a user utterance, and the second system utterance comprises a connective portion for connecting following sentences and a content portion that is a subject of the second system utterance, the setting unit sets a timing at which output of the connective portion of the second system utterance ends or output of the content portion of the second system utterance starts as the response deadline for the first system utterance.

Abstract: A voice dialogue system includes a voice input unit which acquires a user utterance, an intention understanding unit which interprets an intention of utterance of a voice acquired by the voice input unit, a dialogue text creator which creates a text of a system utterance, and a voice output unit which outputs the system utterance as voice data. When creating a text of a system utterance, the dialogue text creator creates the text by inserting a tag in a position in the system utterance, and the intention understanding unit interprets an utterance intention of a user in accordance with whether a timing at which the user utterance is made is before or after an output of a system utterance at a position corresponding to the tag from the voice output unit.

Abstract: A voice dialogue system includes: a voice input unit which acquires a user utterance; an intention understanding unit which interprets an intention of utterance of a voice acquired by the voice input unit; a dialogue text creator which creates a text of a system utterance; and a voice output unit which outputs the system utterance as voice data, wherein when creating a text of a system utterance, the dialogue text creator creates the text by inserting a tag in a position in the system utterance, and the intention understanding unit interprets an utterance intention of a user in accordance with whether a timing at which the user utterance is made is before or after an output of a system utterance at a position corresponding to the tag from the voice output unit.

Abstract: Described is a voice dialogue system that includes a voice input unit which acquires a user utterance, an intention understanding unit which interprets an intention of utterance of a voice acquired by the voice input unit, a dialogue text creator which creates a text of a system utterance, and a voice output unit which outputs the system utterance as voice data. When creating a text of a system utterance, the dialogue text creator creates the text by inserting a tag in a position in the system utterance, and the intention understanding unit interprets an utterance intention of a user in accordance with whether a timing at which the user utterance is made is before or after an output of a system utterance at a position corresponding to the tag from the voice output unit.

Abstract: A system comprises an apparatus having a first voice I/O device; and a voice interface apparatus having a second voice I/O device, and connected to the apparatus by audio connection via short-range wireless communication, wherein the apparatus includes a voice I/O unit that performs voice input and output by using the first voice I/O device or the second voice I/O device; an interaction unit that performs voice interaction with a user; and a process unit that performs a process other than the voice interaction, by using the voice I/O, and the voice I/O unit switches a device used for the voice input and output to the first voice input/output device in a case where the process unit is brought into a first state in which the voice input and output is required when the voice interaction with the user is performed by using the second voice I/O device.

Abstract: A voice dialog device includes a sight line detection unit configured to detect a sight line of a user, a voice acquiring unit configured to acquire voice pronounced by the user, and a processor. The processor is configured to perform a step of acquiring a result of recognizing the voice, a step of determining whether or not the user is driving, and a step of determining whether or not the voice dialog device has a dialog with the user. When the detected sight line of the user is in a certain direction, and a start keyword has been detected from the voice, the processor determines that the user has started a dialog. The processor switches the certain direction based on whether the user is driving.

Abstract: A voice interactive robot interacting with a user by voice includes a main body, a movable part capable of moving relative to the main body, a following control unit that moves the movable part so that the movable part follows the user, a temporary origin setting unit that sets a temporary origin of the movable part in response to movement of the movable part by the following control unit, an acquisition unit that acquires an operation instruction issued in relation to the movable part, and an operation execution unit that moves the movable part in accordance with the operation instruction using the temporary origin as a reference.

Abstract: A voice interaction system includes: a speaker; a microphone having a microphone gain that is set at a low level while a sound is output from the speaker; a voice recognition unit that implements voice recognition processing on input sound data input from the microphone; a sound output unit that generates output sound data and outputs the generated output sound data through the speaker; and a non-audible sound output unit that, when a plurality of sounds are output with a time interval no greater than a threshold therebetween, outputs a non-audible sound through the speaker at least in the interim between output of the plurality of sounds.

Abstract: A keyword generation apparatus, comprises a vocabulary acquisition unit that acquires a keyword uttered by a first user; a first positional information acquisition unit that acquires first positional information including information representing a location at which the first user has uttered the keyword; a storage unit that stores the first positional information and the keyword in association with each other; a second positional information acquisition unit that acquires second positional information including information representing a current position of a second user; and an extraction unit that extracts a keyword unique to a locality in which the second user is positioned from the storage unit based on the second positional information.

Abstract: A voice dialog device includes a sight line detection unit configured to detect a sight line of a user, a voice acquiring unit configured to acquire voice pronounced by the user, and a processor. The processor is configured to perform a step of acquiring a result of recognizing the voice, a step of determining whether or not the user is driving, and a step of determining whether or not the voice dialog device has a dialog with the user. When the detected sight line of the user is in a certain direction, and a start keyword has been detected from the voice, the processor determines that the user has started a dialog. The processor switches the certain direction based on whether the user is driving.

Abstract: A voice dialog device, comprises a voice processing unit configured to obtain a voice pronounced by a user and a result of recognizing the voice; a plurality of estimation units configured to estimate emotion of the user by different methods; and a response unit configured to create a response sentence, based on results of estimating the emotion of the user, and provide the response sentence to the user, wherein when a discrepancy exists between the results of estimating the emotion of the user by the plurality of estimation units, the response unit makes an inquiry to the user, and determines which estimation result is to be adopted, based on content of an obtained response.

Abstract: A voice dialog device, comprises a sight line detection unit configured to detect a sight line of a user; a voice processing unit configured to obtain voice pronounced by the user and a result of recognizing the voice; a dialog determination unit configured to determine whether or not the voice dialog device has a dialog with the user; and an answer generation unit configured to generate an answer, based on a result of recognizing the voice, wherein the dialog determination unit determines whether or not the user has started the dialog, based on both the sight line of the user and the obtained voice.

Abstract: A voice dialogue system includes: a voice input unit which acquires a user utterance; an intention understanding unit which interprets an intention of utterance of a voice acquired by the voice input unit; a dialogue text creator which creates a text of a system utterance; and a voice output unit which outputs the system utterance as voice data, wherein when creating a text of a system utterance, the dialogue text creator creates the text by inserting a tag in a position in the system utterance, and the intention understanding unit interprets an utterance intention of a user in accordance with whether a timing at which the user utterance is made is before or after an output of a system utterance at a position corresponding to the tag from the voice output unit.

Abstract: A voice dialog system includes: a voice input unit which acquires a user utterance, an intention understanding unit that interprets an intention of utterance of a voice acquired by the voice input unit, a dialog text creator that creates a text of a system utterance, and a voice output unit that outputs the system utterance as voice data. When creating a text of a system utterance, the dialog text creator creates the text by inserting a tag in a position in the system utterance. The intention understanding unit interprets an utterance intention of a user in accordance with whether a timing at which the user utterance is made is before or after an output of a system utterance at a position corresponding to the tag from the voice output unit.

Abstract: A voice interaction apparatus includes: a voice recognizer configured to recognize content of a speech of a user; an extractor configured to extract profile information based on a result of the voice recognition, and to specify which user the profile information is associated with; a storage configured to store the extracted profile information in association with the user; an exchanger configured to exchange profile information with another voice interaction apparatus; and a generator configured to generate a speech sentence to speak to the user based on the profile information of the user.

Abstract: A voice I/O apparatus comprises a voice input unit that acquires uttered voice; a connection control unit that controls connection between the voice I/O apparatus and a control apparatus that generates a response to the voice; and an interaction control unit that transmits the acquired voice to the control apparatus, receives the response to the voice, and outputs the response, wherein the connection control unit establishes, between the voice I/O apparatus and the control apparatus, connection of a voice channel over which the voice is transmitted and connection of a data channel over which data other than the voice is transmitted, and terminates the data channel in a case where the connection of the voice channel is not completed within a given time period from the establishment of the connection of the data channel.

Abstract: A voice interactive device that interacts with a user by voice, the device comprises a voice input unit that acquires and recognizes voice uttered by a user; a degree-of-intimacy calculating unit that calculates a degree of intimacy with the user; a response generating unit that generates a response to the recognized voice, based on the degree of intimacy; and a voice output unit that outputs the response by voice, wherein the degree-of-intimacy calculating unit calculates a degree of intimacy with the user based on a sum of a first intimacy value calculated based on a content of an utterance made by the user and a second intimacy value calculated, based on the number of previous interactions with the user.

Abstract: A voice I/O apparatus comprises a voice input unit that acquires uttered voice; a connection control unit that controls connection between the voice I/O apparatus and a control apparatus that generates a response to the voice; and an interaction control unit that transmits the acquired voice to the control apparatus, receives the response to the voice, and outputs the response, wherein the connection control unit establishes, between the voice I/O apparatus and the control apparatus, connection of a voice channel over which the voice is transmitted and connection of a data channel over which data other than the voice is transmitted, and terminates the data channel in a case where the connection of the voice channel is not completed within a given time period from the establishment of the connection of the data channel.