New patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show Apple Inc. may be working on an enhanced voice command system for its future iPhones.
Enthusiast site AppleInsider said Apple's rumored voice control system may be a feature coming to iOS 5 later this year.
"Both applications were applied for by Apple in January of 2010. The proposed invention related to audio feedback is credited to Benjamin Andrew Rottler, Aram Lindahl, Allen Paul Haughay Jr., Shawn A. Ellis and Policarpo Wood. Wood and Lindahl are also credited for the voice input application," AppleInsider said in a blog post.
AppleInsider noted the groundwork for Apple's voice command overhaul may have started when Apple acquired Siri, an iPhone personal assistant application heavily dependent on voice commands.
It noted that, with Siri, users can issue tasks to their iPhone using complete sentences, such as "What's happening this weekend around here?"
The site said it was suggested that the feature may be shown off this fall, and will be a part of the anticipated fifth-generation iPhone.
AppleInsider said the first application, entitled Adaptive Audio Feedback System and Method, streamlines systems that may contain a large amount of information.
The proposed solution looks to cut down on the verbosity or "wordiness" of audio feedback systems, so they would not overwhelm the user.
"Such a system would intelligently recognize that a user has already been presented with certain information in any context, and would spare them the need to hear it repeated once again. This could apply to menu navigation, alerts and prompts, and more, in a method referred to as 'stepping down,'" it said.
One specific example replaced the audio prompt "Genius is not available" to a shorter "No Genius."
On the other hand, an iPhone could "step up" the verbosity of an item based on user preferences, to convey more important information or alerts.
"This dynamic system would spare users the need to repeatedly hear the same audio prompts, particularly if they are accomplishing a task with their iPhone that they are already familiar with. Shorter prompts are not only less bothersome to the user, but could also make handsfree navigation faster," AppleInsider said.
Voice input
A second patent application published this week aims to address user frustration when using a voice control system.
It noted that it sometimes it takes too long for a system to process and interpret a user's voice command, and the delay may lead to other frustrations for the user.
The proposed solution would have dynamic time stamps or time ranges associated with system prompts.
"The time stamps or time ranges can be defined such that a voice input processed after a prompt ends can still be associated with a prior prompt," the application said.
Such windows for input could be increased or decreased dynamically based on a number of factors, AppleInsider said.
In one example, it said the system would allow the user more or less time to respond to a prompt, based on their history of using the system, or even a user's individual voice characteristics. — TJD, GMA News
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