Abstract: Image data generated at a first mobile device is transferred to a storage service that is accessible via a communications infrastructure and with which a first party associated with the first mobile entity is preferably registered. This transfer is effected via one or more nearby third-party mobile devices with the first mobile device initially transferring the image data and an identifier of itself to the or each nearby third-party mobile device by using, for example, a short-range wireless link. The or each third-party device is then responsible for directly or indirectly forwarding the image data and the first-party identifier over the communications infrastructure to the storage service where it is stored. In one preferred embodiment, a reward is credited to any party whose device has been used in the successful transfer of image data to the storage service on behalf of the first party.

Abstract: The user of a mobile entity with camera functionality uses it to capture an image item which the user then transfers to a networked service system for future access. To facilitate the sharing of the image item with persons who were nearby when the image item was captured, the user uses the mobile entity to form a viewer set of permitted viewers of the image item. The process of forming the viewer set involves the user selection of individuals from a group of persons identified as nearby by a wireless enquiry carried out by the mobile entity contemporaneously with image-item capture. Each viewer in the viewer set is then sent a message with access information for accessing the image item at the service system.

Abstract: A telephone call may be received or made by the user of telephony-enabled apparatus in circumstances, such as during a meeting, where spoken responses by the user to what the other party to the call has said are unacceptable. A telephony method and arrangement are disclosed which permits a user to use silent input to the telephony-enabled apparatus in order to generate a response to the other party to the call. Response generation is facilitated by enabling the user to effect a selection from the content of the other party's input, or from options derived from that input, with this selection then being used in forming the response.

Abstract: A speech synthesiser is provided with a dialog-style selection arrangement responsive to a factor affecting intelligibility of speech output by the apparatus to select a dialog style intended to provide at least a minimum level of intelligibility of speech output by the synthesiser. The selected dialog style is used by a speech-application text provider when generating text-form utterances for a current speech application, these text-form utterances then being converted into speech form by a text-to-speech converter. The factor affecting intelligibility may be a measure of the intelligibility of the speech-form output or an environmental factor such as background noise in the user's environment.

Abstract: A local entity without its own means of voice communication is provided with the semblance of having a voice interaction capability. This is done by providing a beacon device at or near the entity, the beacon device transmitting, over a short-range communication link, contact data identifying a voice service associated with, but hosted separately from, the entity. The transmitted contact data is picked up by equipment carried by a nearby person and used to contact the voice service over a wireless network. The person then interacts with the voice service, the latter acting as a voice proxy for the local entity. The contact data can be presented to the user in other ways, for example, by being inscribed on the local entity for scanning or user input into the equipment.

Abstract: A text message generated at a sending device is converted into audio form by a message-conversion system for delivery to a target recipient. This conversion is effected in a manner enabling emotions, encoded by indicators embedded in the text message, to be expressed through multiple types of presentation feature in the audio form of the message. The mapping of emotions to feature values is pre-established for each feature type whilst the sender selection of one or more feature types to be used to express encoded emotions is specified by type indications inserted into the message at its time of generation.

Abstract: A speech synthesizer has a language generator for generating a text-form utterance from input semantic information and a text-to-speech converter for converting the text-from utterance into speech form. The overall quality of the speech-form utterance produced by the text-to-speech converter, is assessed and if judged inadequate, the language generator is triggered to produce a new version of the text-form utterance. The assessment of the overall quality of the speech form utterance is preferably effected by a classifier fed with feature values generated during the conversion process operated by the text-to-speech converter.

Abstract: A speech system has a speech input channel including a speech recognizer, and a speech output channel including a text-to-speech converter. Associated with the input channel is a barge-in control for setting barge-in behavior parameters determining how the apparatus handles barge-in by a user during speech output by the apparatus. In order to make the barge-in control more responsive to the actual speech output from the output channel, a barge-in prediction arrangement is provided that is responsive to feature values produced during the operation of the text-to-speech converter to produce indications as to the most likely barge-in points. The barge-in control is responsive to these indications to adjust at least one of the barge-in behavior parameters for periods corresponding to the most likely barge-in points.

Abstract: A method is provided of setting the voice personality of a voice service site. A user browsing a voice web visits a voice site where the voice output of the site is presented using a set of voice personality characterisers with which the user is particularly comfortable. The user, in subsequently transferring to another voice service site, opts to have the voice personality that was embodied in the set of voice personality characterisers used by the site being left, transfer with the user to the new site. This transfer will typically be subject to permissions set by both the site being left and the site about to be visited.

Abstract: A method for inserting a watermark into an audio signal comprising substituting a noise-like signal portion with a replacement noise-like signal portion, and the replacement noise-like signal portion is modulated with watermark data. In a preferred embodiment Perceptual Noise Substitution is used to locate those portions of the audio signal which are noise-like and which may be replaced by synthetic noise modulated with watermark data. Advantageously the inventive method results in a signal having a synthetic noise signal portion which is modulated by watermark data but which is perceived merely as a noisy signal portion and not as watermark data carrying. Furthermore, watermarks incorporated by the inventive method may be adapted to be robust to various audio compression schemes.

Abstract: Items are represented to a user through a user interface with each item having a respective perceivable range value and associated label by which the item can be addressed. To address a particular item, the user speaks its label at a loudness indicative of its perceived range. A loudness-to-range function of the interface determines on the basis of the loudness of the user input, a range gate expected to encompass the range value of the addressed item. A speech recogniser is used to recognise the spoken label and thus the addressed item, the label search space of the recogniser being restricted to exclude the labels of items having a range value outside of the determined range gate. In one embodiment, the user interface is an audio interface in which the items are represented in an audio field through corresponding synthesized sound sources, the depth at which each sound source is rendered in the audio field being the range value associated with the corresponding item.

Abstract: The user of a mobile entity with camera functionality uses it to capture an image item which the user then transfers to a networked service system for future access. To facilitate the sharing of the image item with persons who were nearby when the image item was captured, the user uses the mobile entity to form a viewer set of permitted viewers of the image item. The process of forming the viewer set involves the user selection of individuals from a group of persons identified as nearby by a wireless enquiry carried out by the mobile entity contemporaneously with image-item capture. Each viewer in the viewer set is then sent a message with access information for accessing the image item at the service system.

Abstract: Image data generated at a first mobile device is transferred to a storage service that is accessible via a communications infrastructure and with which a first party associated with the first mobile entity is preferably registered. This transfer is effected via one or more nearby third-party mobile devices with the first mobile device initially transferring the image data and an identifier of itself to the or each nearby third-party mobile device by using, for example, a short-range wireless link. The or each third-party device is then responsible for directly or indirectly forwarding the image data and the first-party identifier over the communications infrastructure to the storage service where it is stored. In one preferred embodiment, a reward is credited to any party whose device has been used in the successful transfer of image data to the storage service on behalf of the first party.

Abstract: In order to monitor image-capture events, notifications of such events are sent to a service system. From each notification a location parameter is derived that is indicative of the location of occurrence of the corresponding event. At the service system the notified events are associated into clusters and events in a cluster are then analysed in dependence on at least one further parameter of each event. This further parameter is, for example, the time of occurrence of the corresponding event; in this case, it is possible to determine the existence of a currently-happening attraction or when a regularly-occurring attraction is next to happen. In another embodiment, the further parameter is the direction of image capture for the event and in this case it is possible to determine the likely subject of image-capture events of a cluster.

Abstract: The relative average actual or allocated usage of a limited resource, such as communication bandwidth, by task entities in different respective input-modality processing stacks is dynamically adjusted. This adjustment is effected by a moderator in dependence on one or more of the actual usage of the different modalities by a user, the confidence in the results of processing of each of the modalities, and pragmatic information on mode usage.

Abstract: A speech synthesizer includes plural synthesis engines each having different characteristics and converting text-form utterances into speech form. One of the synthesis engines is selected as the current operative engine for producing speech-form utterances for a speech application. If the overall quality of the speech-form utterance produced by the text-to-speech converter of the current operative synthesis engine becomes inadequate, a different engine is selected as the current operative synthesis engine.

Abstract: A method is provided of setting the voice personality of a voice service site. A user browsing a voice web visits a voice site where the voice output of the site is presented using a set of voice personality characterisers with which the user is particularly comfortable. The user, in subsequently transferring to another voice service site, opts to have the voice personality that was embodied in the set of voice personality characterisers used by the site being left, transfer with the user to the new site. This transfer will typically be subject to permissions set by both the site being left and the site about to be visited.

Abstract: A speech synthesizer has a language generator for generating a text-form utterance from input semantic information and a text-to-speech converter for converting the text-from utterance into speech form. The overall quality of the speech-form utterance produced by the text-to-speech converter, is assessed and if judged inadequate, the language generator is triggered to produce a new version of the text-form utterance. The assessment of the overall quality of the speech form utterance is preferably effected by a classifier fed with feature values generated during the conversion process operated by the text-to-speech converter.

Abstract: A method is provided of setting the voice personality of a voice service site. A user browsing a voice web visits a voice site where the voice output of the site is presented using a set of voice personality characterisers with which the user is particularly comfortable. The user, in subsequently transferring to another voice service site, opts to have the voice personality that was embodied in the set of voice personality characterisers used by the site being left, transfer with the user to the new site. This transfer will typically be subject to permissions set by both the site being left and the site about to be visited.

Abstract: When a person first enters an unfamiliar work space, it is useful for that person to know what devices are present in the space and often the person will spend the first few minutes looking around, effectively carrying out an inventory of the devices present. In order to simplify this process the devices are arranged to announce their existence by sound in response to a prompt, such as a handclap. To avoid the announcements being made all at once in an unintelligible manner, the devices interact with each other to order their announcements so that each device announcement is, at least in due course, made uninterrupted by announcements from other devices. Typically, this interaction involves the devices using a collision-detection and back-off protocol applied to the announcements themselves.