# US 12,118,978 B2 · Systems and methods for generating synthesized speech responses to voice inputs indicative of a user in a hurry > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,118,978 B2 - Document ID: US12118978B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/387,211 - Filed: 2023-11-06 - Published: 2024-05-09 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2020-04-09 - Assignees: Rovi Guides, Inc. - Applicants: Rovi Guides, Inc. - Inventors: Ankur Aher; Jeffry Copps Robert Jose - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12118978B2 ## CPC - G10L 13/0335: {Pitch control} - G10L 25/63: for estimating an emotional state - G10L 13/00: Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems - G10L 13/02: Methods for producing synthetic speech; Speech synthesisers - G10L 13/06: Elementary speech units used in speech synthesisers; Concatenation rules - G10L 13/08: Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination - G10L 15/00: Speech recognition (G10L17/00 takes precedence) - G10L 15/10: using distance or distortion measures between unknown speech and reference templates - G10L 15/16: using artificial neural networks - G10L 15/18: using natural language modelling - G10L 15/22: Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue - G10L 15/26: Speech to text systems (G10L15/08 takes precedence) - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING ## Abstract The system provides a synthesized speech response to a voice input, based on the prosodic character of the voice input. The system receives the voice input and calculates at least one prosodic metric of the voice input. The at least one prosodic metric can be associated with a word, phrase, grouping thereof, or the entire voice input. The system also determines a response to the voice input, which may include the sequence of words that form the response. The system generates the synthesized speech response, by determining prosodic characteristics based on the response, and on the prosodic character of the voice input. The system outputs the synthesized speech response, which includes a more natural, relevant, or both answer to the call of the voice input. The prosodic character of the voice input and/or response may include pitch, note, duration, prominence, timbre, rate, and rhythm, for example. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: receiving a voice input by a voice assistant system; determining, based on the voice input, that the voice input is indicative of a user in a hurry; based on determining that the voice input is indicative of the user in the hurry: adjusting a default setting of the voice assistant system to increase a play speed setting for responses of the voice assistant system that is higher than a play speed for responses when the voice assistant system operates in accordance with a default setting; and generating a synthesized speech response that has a verbosity lesser than a verbosity of the voice assistant system when the voice assistant system operates in accordance with the default setting; and causing to be output the synthesized speech response that plays at the increased play speed that is higher than when the voice assistant system operates in accordance with the default setting, and that is less verbose than when the voice assistant system operates in accordance with the default setting. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, comprising: predicting a set of audio features to be applied for each phrase and word of the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, comprising: processing the predicted set of audio features using an interpolation operation to improve a prosodic characteristic and a prosodic transition in the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, comprising: determining whether adjacent words and phrases of the predicted set of audio features have disparate, unmatched, and conflicting values; and in response to determining that the adjacent words and phrases of the predicted set of audio features have disparate, unmatched, and conflicting values, performing the interpolation operation affecting the transitions in the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the determining based on the voice input that the voice input is indicative of the user in the hurry includes: accessing user profile information associated with a user, and comparing characteristics of the voice input to the user profile information. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the synthesized speech response includes: interpolation operations to affect transitions between words and sounds in the synthesized speech response to improve a prosodic characteristic of the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the synthesized speech response includes: interpolating, normalizing, and modifying a prosodic characteristic of the synthesized speech response to enhance prosody. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, comprising: accessing interpolation metrics among word transitions from the voice input; accessing a model trained to determine a desired prosody based on the interpolation metrics; and based on the model, generating the desired prosody in the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 9 A system comprising: a communications circuitry configured to: receive a voice input by a voice assistant system; and control circuitry configured to: determine, based on the voice input, that the voice input is indicative of a user in a hurry; based on determining that the voice input is indicative of the user in the hurry: adjust a default setting of the voice assistant system to increase a play speed setting for responses of the voice assistant system that is higher than a play speed for responses when the voice assistant system operates in accordance with a default setting; and generate a synthesized speech response that has a verbosity lesser than a verbosity of the voice assistant system when the voice assistant system operates in accordance with the default setting; and cause to be output the synthesized speech response that plays at the increased play speed that is higher than when the voice assistant system operates in accordance with the default setting, and that is less verbose than when the voice assistant system operates in accordance with the default setting. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is configured to: predict a set of audio features to be applied for each phrase and word of the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the control circuitry is configured to: process the predicted set of audio features using an interpolation operation to improve a prosodic characteristic and a prosodic transition in the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is configured to: determine whether adjacent words and phrases of the predicted set of audio features have disparate, unmatched, and conflicting values; and in response to determining that the adjacent words and phrases of the predicted set of audio features have disparate, unmatched, and conflicting values, perform the interpolation operation affecting the transitions in the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry configured to determine based on the voice input that the voice input is indicative of the user in the hurry is configured to: access user profile information associated with a user, and comparing characteristics of the voice input to the user profile information. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry configured to generate the synthesized speech response is configured to: perform interpolation operations to affect transitions between words and sounds in the synthesized speech response to improve a prosodic characteristic of the synthesized speech response. ### Claim 15 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry configured to generate the synthesized speech response is configured to: interpolate, normalize, and modify a prosodic characteristic of the synthesized speech response to enhance prosody. ### Claim 16 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is configured to: access interpolation metrics among word transitions from the voice input; access a model trained to determine a desired prosody based on the interpolation metrics; and based on the model, generate the desired prosody in the synthesized speech response.