System and method for providing portable natural language processing interface across multiple appliances

A voice control apparatus configured to provide a portable voice-based control user interface for multiple types of appliances, comprising:

• a built-in voice communication interface configured to accept voice-based inputs from a user,
• a built-in data communication interface configured to establish data communication with multiple types of appliances configured to respond to distinct sets of machine commands to perform their respective appliance operations,
• a built-in natural-language processing (NLP) module stored in memory of the voice control apparatus, wherein the NLP module includes a respective NLP model for each of the multiple types of appliances,
• one or more processors, and
• memory storing instruction, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:
• detecting a user request to activate the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus;
• in response to detecting the user request to activate the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus:
• activating the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus;
• and
• in accordance with one or more target selection criteria, selecting a first target appliance for one or more voice-based commands that are to be received through the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus;
• while the built-in voice communication interface remains activated and a current selection of the first target appliance remains unchanged, receiving a first voice input through the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus;
• and
• in response to receiving the first voice input:
• in accordance with a determination that the first target appliance is of a first appliance of a first appliance type, processing the first voice input using a first NLP model of the built-in NLP module that corresponds to the first appliance type to obtain a first machine command, and sending, via the built-in data communication interface, the first machine command to the first appliance;
• and
• in accordance with a determination that the first target appliance is of a second appliance of a second appliance type that is distinct from the first appliance type, processing the first voice input using a second NLP model of the built-in NLP module that corresponds to the second appliance type to obtain a second machine command, and sending, via the built-in data communication interface, the second machine command to the second appliance.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a voice control apparatus, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

• detecting a user request to activate a built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus that is configured to accept voice-based inputs from a user, wherein the voice control apparatus further includes a built-in data communication interface that is configured to establish data communication with multiple types of appliances configured to respond to distinct sets of machine commands to perform their respective appliance operations and a built-in natural-language processing (NLP) module stored in memory of the voice control apparatus, wherein the NLP module includes a respective NLP model for each of the multiple types of appliances;
• in response to detecting the user request to activate the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus:
• activating the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus;
• and
• in accordance with one or more target selection criteria, selecting a first target appliance for one or more voice-based commands that are to be received through the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus;
• while the built-in voice communication interface remains activated and a current selection of the first target appliance remains unchanged, receiving a first voice input through the built-in voice communication interface of the voice control apparatus;
• in response to receiving the first voice input:
• in accordance with a determination that the first target appliance is of a first appliance of a first appliance type, processing the first voice input using a first NLP model of the built-in NLP module that corresponds to the first appliance type to obtain a first machine command, and sending, via the built-in data communication interface, the first machine command to the first appliance;
• and
• in accordance with a determination that the first target appliance is of a second appliance of a second appliance type that is distinct from the first appliance type, processing the first voice input using a second NLP model of the built-in NLP module that corresponds to the second appliance type to obtain a second machine command, and sending, via the built-in data communication interface, the second machine command to the second appliance.