Apparatus and method for forming search engine queries based on spoken utterances

Abstract

A combination and a method are provided. Automatic speech recognition is performed on a received utterance. A meaning of the utterance is determined based, at least in part, on the recognized speech. At least one query is formed based, at least in part, on the determined meaning of the utterance. The at least one query is sent to at least one searching mechanism to search for an address of at least one web page that satisfies the at least one query.

We claim as our invention: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 performing, via a processor, automatic speech recognition on a first utterance comprising a first group of words from a first party in a conversation, to yield first recognized speech;   determining a meaning of the first group of words via a spoken language understanding unit, wherein the determining of the meaning is based on the first recognized speech;   performing automatic speech recognition on a second utterance comprising a second group of words from a second party to yield second recognized speech;   forming a query based on the meaning of the first group of words and a meaning of the second group of words as determined by the spoken language understanding unit and based on the second recognized speech;   sending the query to a search engine to search for a web page that satisfies the query; and   sending an identification of a site to a device associated with the second party in the conversation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the search engine comprises a web based search engine. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identification of the site comprises a universal resource location address for a website. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 logging a time and date of one or more of the query, search results obtained by the search engine, and a selection of the search results made by the second party, to yield a log.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 presenting the log to a user.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the user is the second party. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the conversation is ongoing during the automatic speech recognition, the determining of the meaning, the forming of the query, and the sending of the query. 
     
     
         8 . A system comprising:
 a processor; and   a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored which, when executed by the processor, result in the processor performing operations comprising:
 performing automatic speech recognition on a first utterance comprising a first group of words from a first party in a conversation, to yield first recognized speech; 
 determining a meaning of the first group of words via a spoken language understanding unit, wherein the determining of the meaning is based on the first recognized speech; 
 performing automatic speech recognition on a second utterance comprising a second group of words from a second party to yield second recognized speech; 
 forming a query based on the meaning of the first group of words and a meaning of the second group of words as determined by the spoken language understanding unit and based on the second recognized speech; 
 sending the query to a search engine to search for a web page that satisfies the query; and 
 sending an identification of a site to a device associated with the second party in the conversation. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the search engine comprises a web based search engine. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the identification of the site comprises a universal resource location address for a website. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, result in the processor performing operations further comprising:
 logging a time and date of one or more of the query, search results obtained by the search engine, and a selection of the search results made by the second party, to yield a log.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, result in the processor performing operations further comprising:
 presenting the log to a user.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the user is the second party. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the conversation is ongoing during the automatic speech recognition, the determining of the meaning, the forming of the query, and the sending of the query. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-readable storage device having instructions stored which, when executed by a processor, result in the processor performing operations comprising:
 performing automatic speech recognition on a first utterance comprising a first group of words from a first party in a conversation, to yield first recognized speech;   determining a meaning of the first group of words via a spoken language understanding unit, wherein the determining of the meaning is based on the first recognized speech;   performing automatic speech recognition on a second utterance comprising a second group of words from a second party to yield second recognized speech;   forming a query based on the meaning of the first group of words and a meaning of the second group of words as determined by the spoken language understanding unit and based on the second recognized speech;   sending the query to a search engine to search for a web page that satisfies the query; and   sending an identification of a site to a device associated with the second party in the conversation.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the search engine comprises a web based search engine. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the identification of the site comprises a universal resource location address for a website. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the computer-readable storage device stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, result in the processor performing operations further comprising:
 logging a time and date of one or more of the query, search results obtained by the search engine, and a selection of the search results made by the second party, to yield a log.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 18 , wherein the computer-readable storage device stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, result in the processor performing operations further comprising:
 presenting the log to a user.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 19 , wherein the user is the second party.