Universal vehicle voice command system

Abstract

Methods and systems are presented for accepting inputs into a vehicle or other conveyance to control functions of the conveyance. A vehicle control system can receive gestures and other inputs. The vehicle control system can also obtain information about the user of the vehicle control system and information about the environment in which the conveyance is operating. Based on the input and the other information, the vehicle control system can modify or improve the performance or execution of user interface and functions of the conveyance. The changes make the user interfaces and/or functions user-friendly and intuitive.

1 . A method for controlling a function in a conveyance, comprising:
 a vehicle control system, including a processor, identifying, by one or more signals from one or more sensors within the conveyance, a user within a conveyance;   based on the one or more signals from the one or more sensors, the vehicle control system determining a location of the user within the conveyance, wherein there are two or more locations defined within an interior of the conveyance;   the vehicle control system retrieving a user profile for the user based on the identity and the location of the user, wherein the user profile includes one or more settings associated with the user, wherein the user profile is different for a first location compared to a second location;   receiving an audible command from the user at a microphone within the vehicle;   the vehicle control system receiving the audible command from the microphone, wherein the audible command is one of the settings associated with the user in the user profile; and   based on information within the user profile, the vehicle control system modifying a function performed by the conveyance based on the audible command.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the two or more locations are two or more areas defined in the conveyance. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein a first function is controlled if the audible command is received in a first area. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein a second function is controlled if the audible command is received in a second area. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein two or more locations are two or more zones defined in the conveyance. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein a third function is controlled if the audible command is received in a first zone. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein a fourth function is controlled if the audible command is received in a second zone. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein a fifth function is controlled if the audible command is received from a first user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein a sixth function is controlled if the audible command is received in from a second user. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 the vehicle control system determining if the audible command is a search function; and   if the audible command is a search function, the vehicle control system searching for another audible command based on information in the received audible command.   
     
     
         11 . A conveyance comprising:
 one or more sensors within the conveyance;   a microphone within the conveyance, the microphone receives an audible command from a user;   a processor in communication with the one or more sensors and the microphone, the processor operable to execute:   a user identification module that:
 identifies the user within a conveyance based on one or more signals from the one or more sensors; 
 determines a location of the user within the conveyance based on one or more signals from the one or more sensors, wherein there are two or more locations defined within an interior of the conveyance; 
 retrieves a user profile for the user based on the identity and the location of the user, wherein the user profile includes one or more settings associated with the user, wherein the user profile is different for a first location compared to a second location; 
   a voice control module that:
 receives the audible command from the microphone, wherein the audible command is one of the settings associated with the user in the user profile; and 
 based on the user profile, modifies a function performed by the conveyance based on the audible command. 
   
     
     
         12 . The conveyance of  claim 11 , wherein the two or more locations are two or more areas defined in the conveyance, wherein a first function is controlled if the audible command is received in a first area, and wherein a second function is controlled if the audible command is received in a second area. 
     
     
         13 . The conveyance of  claim 11 , wherein the two or more locations are two or more zones defined in the conveyance, wherein a third function is controlled if the audible command is received in a first zone, and wherein a fourth function is controlled if the audible command is received in a second zone. 
     
     
         14 . The conveyance of  claim 13 , wherein a fifth function is controlled if the audible command is received from a first user, and wherein a sixth function is controlled if the audible command is received in from a second user. 
     
     
         15 . The conveyance of  claim 14 , wherein the voice control module is further operable to:
 determine if the audible command is a search function; and   if the audible command is a search function, search for another audible command based on information in the received audible command.   
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a method, the instructions comprising:
 instructions to identify a user within a conveyance based on one or more signals from one or more sensors within the conveyance;   instructions to determine a location of the user within the conveyance based on one or more signals from one or more sensors within the conveyance, wherein there are two or more locations defined within an interior of the conveyance;   instructions to retrieve a user profile for the user based on the identity and the location of the user, wherein the user profile includes one or more settings associated with the user, wherein the user profile is different for a first location compared to a second location;   instructions to receive an audible command from a microphone that received the audible command from the user, wherein the audible command is one of the settings associated with the user in the user profile; and   based on information within the user profile, instructions to modify a function performed by the conveyance based on the audible command.   
     
     
         17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the two or more locations are two or more areas defined in the conveyance, wherein a first function is controlled if the audible command is received in a first area, and wherein a second function is controlled if the audible command is received in a second area. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the two or more locations are two or more zones defined in the conveyance, wherein a third function is controlled if the audible command is received in a first zone, and wherein a fourth function is controlled if the audible command is received in a second zone. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein a fifth function is controlled if the audible command is received from a first user, and wherein a sixth function is controlled if the audible command is received in from a second user. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 instructions to determine if the audible command is a search function; and   if the audible command is a search function, instructions to search for another audible command based on information in the received audible command.