# US 2019/0173816 A1 · System and Method for Voice Networking

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- Number: US 2019/0173816 A1
- Document ID: US20190173816A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/190,157
- Filed: 2018-11-14
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2015-05-12
- Inventors: Stephen William Davies
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190173816A1

## CPC

- H04L 51/08: Annexed information, e.g. attachments
- H04L 51/10: Multimedia information
- H04L 51/52: for supporting social networking services
- H04M 3/42221: {Conversation recording systems (at the subscriber's set H04M1/656)}
- H04M 3/533: Voice mail systems
- H04W 4/12: Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
- G10L 15/26: Speech to text systems (G10L15/08 takes precedence)
- G10L 17/00: Speaker identification or verification techniques
- H04M 2203/252: where a voice mode is enhanced with visual information
- H04M 2203/552: Call annotations
- H04M 2203/655: Combination of telephone service and social networking
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)
- G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING

## Abstract

A system and method for voice based social networking is disclosed. The system receives a voice message (and frequently an image) and ultimately delivers it to one or multiple users, placing it within an ongoing context of conversations. The voice and image may be recorded by various devices and the data transmitted in a variety of formats. An alternative implementation places some system functionality in a mobile device such as a smartphone or wearable device, with the remaining functionality resident in system servers attached to the internet. The system can apply rules to select and limit the voice data flowing to each user; rules prioritize the messages using context information such as user interest and user state. An image is fused to the voice message to form a comment. Additional image or voice annotation (or both) identifying the sender may be attached to the comment. Fused image(s) and voice annotation allow the user to quickly deduce the context of the comment. The system provides the means to deliver a seamless flow of a conversation without requiring user interaction to hear individual comments. Multiple conversations or parts of conversations (or both) are blended into the users acoustic channel without requiring user interaction at the level of individual comments. Advertising may also be integrated. The resulting information flow is translated into formats acceptable to the user's receiving device.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for voice-based social networking wherein, for some time interval, voice messages and other associated data are selected for presentation to the recipient using a scoring algorithm for each message wherein said score reflects the relative importance of said message, the messages are ranked by this score and the highest ranked messages are selected for forwarding to the user in said interval such that the rate of presentation of these messages is maintained at a rate below the rate at which the recipient is judged capable of effective comprehension and in all cases at a rate less than the rate which the acoustic channel can support.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein assessment is made of the state of the user and the rate at which the recipient is judged capable of effective comprehension is adjusted according to said state.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the assessment uses position and dynamic information such as accelerometer measurements to infer the state of the user.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the assessment uses acoustic measurements to infer the state of the user.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the assessment uses recently received information to infer the state of the the user.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the assessment uses measurements from sensors of a mobile device.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the message segments are used to prepare a composite entity such as a video stream or a data format suitable for audio-visual slide shows and this composite entity is transmitted to the receiver and presented to the user.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the messages are selected from a group comprising both user generated messages and advertiser generated messages.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the scoring algorithm incorporates a user dependent ranking of the message source.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the scoring algorithm incorporates a user dependent ranking of the message subject matter.