Method of and apparatus for managing dialog between user and agent

An apparatus for managing a dialog turn between a user and a spoken dialog system including a computer having computing device-executable instructions, the apparatus comprising:

• a dialog analyzer, controlled by the computer, that generates first dialog turn information using dialog information analyzed from a speech uttered by the user;
• a facial expression analyzer, controlled by the computer, that generates second dialog turn information using facial expression information analyzed from a face image of the user;
• a weight database, controlled by the computer, that stores weights assigned to varying dialog turn information based on statistical information;
• a synthesizer, controlled by the computer, that synthesizes the first dialog turn information and the second dialog turn information, the synthesizer outputting the synthesized dialog turn information to a weight searcher when the first dialog turn information is different than the second dialog turn information and outputting one selected from the first dialog turn information and the second dialog turn information to a dialog controller when the first dialog turn information is identical to the second dialog turn information;
• the weight searcher searching the weight database for weights corresponding to the synthesized dialog turn information output from the synthesizer, assigning a positive weight to each of the first and second dialog turn information based on the synthesized dialog turn information and selecting whichever one of the first and second dialog turn information has a greater positive weight;
• and
• the dialog controller determining a final dialog turn using the selected one dialog turn information, information on a status of the spoken dialog system, information on whether the user speech is input, and information on a no-answer time of the user, for controlling a dialog between the user and the spoken dialog system.

A spoken dialog system including a computer having computing device-executable instructions, the system comprising:

• a speech input unit that amplifies a user speech input via a microphone to a predetermined level;
• a speech recognizer, controlled by the computer, that recognizes the speech signal provided by the speech input unit to output a character string signal;
• an image input unit that inputs a user face image;
• a timer that counts a user no-answer time for a predetermined period of time;
• a weight database, controlled by the computer, that stores weights assigned to varying dialog turn information based on statistical information;
• a dialog manager, controlled by the computer, that generates first dialog turn information using dialog information analyzed from the character string signal and generates second dialog turn information using facial expression information analyzed from the user face image;
• a synthesizer, controlled by the computer, that synthesizes the first dialog turn information and the second dialog turn information, the synthesizer outputting the synthesized dialog turn information to a weight searcher when the first dialog turn information is different than the second dialog turn information and outputting one selected from the first dialog turn information and the second dialog turn information to a dialog controller when the first dialog turn information is identical to the second dialog turn information;
• the weight searcher searching the weight database for weights corresponding to the synthesized dialog turn information output from the synthesizer, assigning a positive weight to each of the first and second dialog turn information based on the synthesized dialog turn information and selecting whichever one of the first and second dialog turn information has a greater positive weight;
• the dialog controller determining a final dialog turn using the selected one dialog turn information;
• and
• an answer generator, controlled by the computer, that generates an answer corresponding to the character string signal with reference to a dialog model database according to a control operation of the dialog-controller.

A method of managing a dialog turn between a user and a spoken dialog system, the method comprising:

• storing weights assigned to varying dialog turn information based on statistical information in a weight database;
• generating first dialog turn information using dialog information analyzed from a speech uttered by the user;
• generating second dialog turn information using body expression information analyzed from a detected body expression of the user;
• synthesizing the first dialog turn information and the second dialog turn information and outputting the synthesized dialog turn information when the first dialog turn information is different than the second dialog turn information, and outputting one selected from the first dialog turn information and the second dialog turn information when the first dialog turn information is identical to the second dialog turn information;
• searching the weight database for weights corresponding to the synthesized dialog turn information, assigning a positive weight to each of the first and second dialog turn information based on the synthesized dialog turn information and selecting whichever one of the first and second dialog turn information has a greater positive weight;
• and
• determining a final dialog turn using the selected one dialog turn information for controlling a dialog between the user and the spoken dialog system.

An apparatus for managing a dialog turn between a user and a spoken dialog system including a computer having computing device-executable instructions, the apparatus comprising:

• a weight database, controlled by the computer, that stores weights assigned to varying dialog turn information based on statistical information;
• a dialog analyzer, controlled by the computer, that generates first dialog turn information using dialog information analyzed from a speech uttered by the user;
• a body expression, controlled by the computer, analyzer that generates second dialog turn information using body expression information analyzed from the user;
• a synthesizer, controlled by the computer, that synthesizes the first dialog turn information and the second dialog turn information, the synthesizer outputting the synthesized dialog turn information to a weight searcher when the first dialog turn information is different than the second dialog turn information and outputting one selected from the first dialog turn information and the second dialog turn information to a dialog controller when the first dialog turn information is identical to the second dialog turn information;
• the weight searcher searching the weight database for weights corresponding to the synthesized dialog turn information output from the synthesizer, assigning a positive weight to each of the first and second dialog turn information based on the synthesized dialog turn information and selecting whichever one of the first and second dialog turn information has a greater positive weight;
• and
• the dialog controller determining a final dialog turn using the selected one dialog turn information for controlling a dialog between the user and the spoken dialog system.