Method and apparatus for inferring user intention in vehicle voice recognition system

A system comprising one or more processors and a memory operatively coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing commands that, in response to execution of the commands by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:

• receiving, from a vehicle, first utterance data obtained by converting a voice command of a first user into text;
• performing natural language understanding to attempt to decide an intention of the first user from the first utterance data;
• in response to failing to decide the intention of the first user, receiving, from the vehicle, first subsequent action data occurring within a first predetermined time period after the first utterance data, the first subsequent action data comprising vehicle usage data indicating an operation performed by the first user on a vehicle function;
• predicting the intention of the first user using stored pattern data, wherein the stored pattern data comprises a plurality of patterns and confidence values generated based on:
• (i) a plurality of second utterance data wherein each instance of second utterance data (a) was received by another vehicle and (b) failed to result in a decision regarding an intention of a user, of the other vehicle, that is different than the first user;
• and
• (ii) a plurality of second subsequent action data, wherein each second subsequent action data occurs within a second predetermined time period after a single corresponding second utterance data of the plurality of second utterance data, wherein each second subsequent action data comprises vehicle usage data indicating an operation performed on a vehicle function of a particular vehicle by a user, of the other vehicle, that is different than the first user;
• generating a prompt suggesting an operation based on the predicted intention;
• and
• transmitting the prompt to the vehicle.

A vehicle voice recognition system, the system comprising:

• a vehicle comprising:
• a voice recognition input/output device configured to receive a voice command uttered by a first user in the vehicle;
• and
• a head unit comprising a vehicle usage data collection unit and a voice recognition module, wherein the voice recognition module is configured to convert the voice command into text to create first utterance data;
• a vehicle usage data server configured to store vehicle usage data from a plurality of vehicles including the vehicle;
• and
• a voice recognition server configured to receive the utterance data and the vehicle usage data, wherein the voice recognition server comprises:
• one or more processors;
• and
• a storage device storing a program to be executed by the one or more processors, the program including instructions for:
• performing natural language understanding to attempt to determine an intention of the first user from the first utterance data;
• in response to failing to decide the intention of the first user, receiving, from the vehicle, first subsequent action data occurring within a first predetermined time period after the first utterance data, the first subsequent action data comprising vehicle usage data indicating an operation performed by the first user on a vehicle function;
• predicting the intention of the first user using stored pattern data, wherein the stored pattern data comprises a plurality of patterns and confidence values generated based on:
• (i) a plurality of second utterance data, wherein each instance of second utterance data (a) was received by another vehicle and (b) failed to result in a decision regarding an intention of a user, of the other vehicle, that is different than the first user;
• and
• (ii) a plurality of second subsequent action data, wherein each second subsequent action data occurs within a second predetermined time period after a single corresponding second utterance data of the plurality of second utterance data, wherein each second subsequent action data comprises vehicle usage data indicating an operation performed on a vehicle function of a particular vehicle by a user, of the other vehicle, that is different than the first user;
• generating a prompt suggesting an operation based on the predicted intention;
• and
• transmitting the prompt to the vehicle.