Context-based interactive plush toy

Abstract

An interactive toy for interacting with a user while a story is being read aloud from a book or played from a movie/video. The toy includes a speech recognition unit that receives and detects certain triggering phrases as they are read aloud or played from a companion literary work. The triggering phrase read aloud from the book or played in the movie/video may have independent significance or may only have significance when combined with other phrases read aloud from the book or played in the movie/video.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of interacting with a user via an interactive toy, wherein the toy responds to the user based on a user-provided context, the method comprising:
 receiving a first plurality of audible sounds, wherein the first plurality of audible sounds correspond to a literary work and form a narrative of a story being told in the literary work;   analyzing the first plurality of audible sounds to detect a first phrase;   upon detecting the first phrase, receiving a second plurality of audible sounds, wherein the second plurality of audible sounds correspond to a literary work and form a narrative of a story being told in the literary work;   analyzing the second plurality of audible sounds to detect a second phrase; and   upon detecting the second phrase, activating a responsive program associated with detection of both the first and second phrases, wherein the responsive program supplements the narrative of the story being told in the literary work.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the literary work is a book and the first plurality of audible sounds and the second plurality of audible sounds each correspond to text read aloud from the book and comprise a user's voice. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the literary work is a movie and the first plurality of audible sounds and the second plurality of audible sounds each correspond to a voice of one or more characters in the movie. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the literary work is a live broadcast. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first phrase corresponds to a first plurality of responsive programs. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second phrase corresponds to a second plurality of responsive programs. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first phrase and the second phrase each correspond to one shared responsive program. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein activating the responsive program consists of one or more of activating an audio file, activating a movement program, and activating a lighting program. 
     
     
         9 . An interactive story and toy system, the system comprising:
 an interactive toy, wherein the interactive toy includes:
 a body having an interior cavity; 
 a speech recognition unit at least partially positioned within the interior cavity, the speech recognition unit configured to receive audible sounds and determine if at least one triggering phrase has been received; and 
 a sound module at least partially positioned within the interior cavity, the sound module having a speaker and a controller with a plurality of audio messages stored therein for selective playback via the speaker, wherein one or more messages are selected if the speech recognition unit determines that at least one triggering phrase has been received; and 
 a user engagable switch for powering on the interactive toy; 
   a literary work, wherein the literary work includes:
 a plurality of non-triggering phrases, wherein the plurality of non-triggering phrases form part of a story told in the literary work; and 
 at least one triggering phrase, wherein the at least one triggering phrase also forms part of the story told in the literary work and is selectively placed within the plurality of non-triggering phrases to assist the speech recognition unit in differentiating non-triggering phrases from triggering phrases. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the literary work is a movie. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the literary work is a book. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the literary work is a live broadcast. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at an end of a sentence within the story told in the book. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at the beginning of a sentence within the story told in the book. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed at an end of a sentence at an end of a page of the book. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one triggering phrase is selectively placed in a clause within a sentence within the story told in the book. 
     
     
         17 . A computer-implemented method of activating triggering phrases from a memory to facilitate user interaction, the method comprising:
 receiving a first plurality of audible sounds;   comparing the first plurality of audible sounds to a plurality of leading triggering phrases lacking significance independent of one or more additional triggering phrases;   determining that the first plurality of audible sounds includes a leading triggering phrase; and   upon determining that the first plurality of audible sounds includes a leading triggering phrase, activating a plurality of lagging triggering phrases, wherein the leading triggering phrase included in the first plurality of audible sounds and each of the plurality of lagging triggering phrases define an interactive response.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 receiving a second plurality of audible sounds;   comparing the second plurality of audible sounds to the plurality of lagging triggering phrases;   determining if the second plurality of audible sounds includes a lagging triggering phrase; and   upon determining that the second plurality of audible sounds includes a lagging triggering phrase, activating the interactive response associated with the combination of the leading triggering phrase included in the first plurality of audible sounds and the lagging triggering phrase included in the second plurality of audible sounds.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the leading triggering phrase corresponds to a first plurality of interactive responses. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the lagging triggering phrase corresponds to a second plurality of interactive responses. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the interactive response defined by the leading triggering phrase included in the first plurality of audible sounds and the lagging triggering phrase included in the second plurality of audible sounds includes one or more of an audio, mechanical or visual response.