System and Method for Creating a Presentation Using Natural Language

Abstract

The invention provides for a system, method, and computer readable medium storing instructions related to controlling a presentation in a multimodal system. The method embodiment of the invention is a method for the retrieval of information on the basis of its content for incorporation into an electronic presentation. The method comprises receiving from a user a content-based request for at least one segment from a first plurality of segments within a media presentation preprocessed to enable natural language content searchability; in response to the request, presenting a subset of the first plurality of segments to the user; receiving a selection indication from the user associated with at least one segment of the subset of the first plurality of segments and adding the selected at least one segment to a deck for use in a presentation.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 updating a grammar based on content extracted from a searchable plurality of presentation source files stored on a network, to yield an updated grammar;   receiving, from a user, a spoken natural language content request for a presentation source file from the searchable plurality of presentation source files;   based on the spoken natural language content request, identifying a set of presentation source files in the searchable plurality of presentation source files, the set of presentation source files being identified using the updated grammar;   receiving, from the user, input identifying the presentation source file from the set of presentation source files; and   adding the presentation source file to a presentation associated with a presentation device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein updating the grammar comprises:
 processing the searchable plurality of presentation source files to extract the content from the searchable plurality of presentation source files; and   based on the content extracted from the searchable plurality of presentation source files, generating at least one of:   (1) a web-based form of each searchable presentation source file;   (2) a list of key phrases; and   (3) a corpus of sentences that appear in the searchable plurality of presentation source files.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 based on the list of key phrases, populating a menu of key phrases available to the user.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising selecting one or more of the searchable plurality of presentation source files based on a user selection of one or more key phrases from the menu of key phrases. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the input identifying the presentation source file is in a modality distinct from speech. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the presentation source file is confirmed by the user via one of graffiti, handwritten input, typed input, motion input, or a button click input. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein updating the grammar, receiving the spoken natural language content request, identifying the set of presentation source files, receiving input identifying the presentation source file, and adding the presentation source file all occur during the presentation at the presentation device. 
     
     
         8 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   at least one computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
 update a grammar based on content extracted from a searchable plurality of presentation source files stored on a network, to yield an updated grammar; 
 receive, from a user, a spoken natural language content request for a presentation source file from the searchable plurality of presentation source files; 
 based on the spoken natural language content request, identify a set of presentation source files in the searchable plurality of presentation source files, the set of presentation source files being identified using the updated grammar; 
 receive, from the user, input identifying the presentation source file from the set of presentation source files; and 
 add the presentation source file to a presentation on a presentation device associated with the system. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein updating the grammar comprises:
 processing the searchable plurality of presentation source files to extract the content from the searchable plurality of presentation source files; and   based on the content extracted from the searchable plurality of presentation source files, generating at least one of:
 (1) a web-based form of each searchable presentation source file; 
 (2) a list of key phrases; and 
 (3) a corpus of sentences that appear in the searchable plurality of presentation source files. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the list of key phrases is used to populate a menu of key phrases available to the user. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , the at least one computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
 select one or more of the searchable plurality of presentation source files based on a user selection of one or more key phrases from the menu of key phrases.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the menu of key phrases is displayed on a graphical user interface associated with the presentation device, and wherein the user can use the menu of key phrases to select searchable presentation source files. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the updating, the receiving of the spoken natural language content request, the identifying of the set of presentation source files, the receiving of the input identifying the presentation source file, and the adding of the presentation source file all occur as the presentation device displays the presentation. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the searchable plurality of presentation source files comprises viewgraphs. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-readable storage device having instructions stored which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 updating a grammar based on content extracted from a searchable plurality of presentation source files stored on a network, to yield an updated grammar;   receiving, from a user, a spoken natural language content request for a presentation source file from the searchable plurality of presentation source files;   based on the spoken natural language content request, identifying a set of presentation source files in the searchable plurality of presentation source files, the set of presentation source files being identified using the updated grammar;   receiving, from the user, input identifying the presentation source file from the set of presentation source files; and   adding the presentation source file to a presentation on the computing device.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the presentation source file is confirmed by the user via one of graffiti, handwritten, typed, motion, or button click input. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein updating the grammar comprises:
 processing the searchable plurality of presentation source files to extract the content from the searchable plurality of presentation source files; and   based on the content extracted from the searchable plurality of presentation source files, generating at least one of:
 (1) a web-based form of each searchable presentation source file; 
 (2) a list of key phrases; and 
 (3) a corpus of sentences that appear in the searchable plurality of presentation source files. 
   
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 17 , wherein the list of key phrases is used to populate a menu of key phrases displayed on a graphical user interface associated with the computing device. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 18 , wherein the searchable plurality of presentation source files comprises viewgraphs. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the updating, the receiving of the spoken natural language content request, the identifying of the set of presentation source files, the receiving of the input identifying the presentation source file, and the adding of the presentation source file all occur as a presentation device associated with the computing device presents the presentation.