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

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a natural language processing (NLP) apparatus, cause the processors to perform operations, comprising:

• an NLP apparatus, comprising:
• a housing;
• a built-in voice input 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 NLP module, wherein the NLP module includes a respective NLP model for each of the multiple types of appliances;
• and
• a built-in control module configured to detect an activation input for activating the built-in voice input interface and a target selection input for selecting a target appliance for a voice input received after activating the built-in voice input interface:
• while the built-in voice input interface remains activated and a current selection of the target appliance remains unchanged, receiving a first voice input through the built-in voice input interface;
• and
• in response to receiving the first voice input:
• in accordance with a determination that the target appliance is 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 target appliance is 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.