Apple Patent Shows One Use for Nuance's Speech Recognition Technology

[MacRumors]

Patently Apple points to a newly published patent application which could show one possible reason Apple is so interested in Nuance's speech recognition technology. Apple is rumored to be in negotiations with Nuance for the use of their speech recognition engine in iOS 5.

The patent application offers a possible solution to two different scenarios where it would be hard for someone to answer a phone in the usual way.

Problem One: Communicating in Noisy Environments
A smartphone user may sometimes have to make or answer a phone call in a noisy environment. Noise could interfere with a phone conversation to a degree that the conversation is no longer intelligible to either conversing party. A user in the noisy environment may try to scream into the phone over the noise, but the screaming and the noise may render the voice signal unintelligible at the other end.
....
Problem Two: Unable to Communicate During a Meeting
In another scenario, it may be inconvenient for a user to talk on a phone. For example, users may be in a meeting and don't want to draw attention to themselves by speaking into the phone. The users may try to whisper into the phone, but the whispering may render the conversation unintelligible. The users may choose to send a text message to the other party, but the other party may be on a landline where texting is unavailable, or may not have a texting plan. It could be frustrating to conduct a telephone conversation when the environment is noisy or the circumstance is inappropriate for a user to speak.

In either scenario, the user is offered the possibility of communicating with the incoming phone call using text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities. If receiving a phone call in a loud restaurant or quiet meeting, you might be able to choose the ability to answer using text messaging. The text would later be then turned into speech for the caller to hear, and the caller's verbal responses would likewise be converted back into text.

Now, this is a novel implementation and the likelihood of Apple's implementing it into iOS 5 is probably low. Other perhaps more likely possibilities include the use of voice for search, phone navigation, and dictation for email/sms messages.

Article Link: Apple Patent Shows One Use for Nuance's Speech Recognition Technology

 

[Skika]

Not having a texting plan

Thats really not an issue in 2011.

 

[Kentochan]

This could really be helpful to blind and deaf people too!

 

[EmmEff]

Wow, a totally useless feature for me. Had voice recognition on my BlackBerry, never used it. Have it on my car satnav, never use it.

Stupid waste of money and resources on Apple's part. This is not the future.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

This sounds like it would be a nice feature.

Not having a texting plan

Thats really not an issue in 2011.

Correction: This isn't an issue for people under ~30 years old. I know plenty of 40+ year old people who don't have texting plans. And what about landlines?

 

[Uragon]

Wow, a totally useless feature for me. Had voice recognition on my BlackBerry, never used it. Have it on my car satnav, never use it.

Stupid waste of money and resources on Apple's part. This is not the future.

Then, how are you suppose to say, "beam me up Scotty."

 

[*LTD*]

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Wow, a totally useless feature for me. Had voice recognition on my BlackBerry, never used it. Have it on my car satnav, never use it.

Stupid waste of money and resources on Apple's part. This is not the future.

It's a patent application.

Maybe it's time to get with the times and use voice-enabled services. I use them regularly. Very convenient.

 

[ritmomundo]

Finally! Some kind of integrated speech-to-text recognition! I've been waiting for Apple to implement this. Its one of the few features Android phones have that I really wanted on my iPhone (although Android is mostly dictation for texting/email, not call to text and vv, which is awesome btw). Yes, I know Dragon Dictation exists, but I really want something integrated into the messages app. Next, I want turn-by-turn GPS and the Swype keyboard.

 

[janmike34]

I'm actually working on an iOS 5 concept video regarding extensive voice recognition throughout the OS. It'll be on YouTube later today. My other iOS 5 concept videos (Faster App Switching, Mac OS integration, Notifications, Widgets) can be seen on my youtube channel @ janmike34

 

[Satori]

No doubt that speech recognition will be a big part of the future of smart phones - It's just a question of how it will integrate. This is just one of many possibilities.

 

[snebes]

Then, how are you suppose to say, "beam me up Scotty."

Who would say this? Certainly never William Shatner.

 

[Full of Win]

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Wow, a totally useless feature for me. Had voice recognition on my BlackBerry, never used it. Have it on my car satnav, never use it.

Stupid waste of money and resources on Apple's part. This is not the future.

To be fair, the SR used in your examples will be nothing like what Apple will likely use in iOS 5.

 

[Cougarcat]

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Not having a texting plan

Thats really not an issue in 2011.

I don't. I get by with Textie and an IM client.

 

[MacFly123]

Apple PLEASE add "Alex" to iOS 5 so I can have him read me web pages and articles!!! That is the ONLY reason I still read online on my MacBookPro instead of my iPad 2. When I have "Alex" read to me I can multi-task and do other things while I read and learn! Helps me get a lot more done every day and stay up on the latest!

 

[NinjaHERO]

Obviously the future is going to be all about verbal commands. This is a nice step in that direction.


Plus I love the option of getting a verbal message as text. The Google voice feature that turns my voicemails into text is awesome. Not always accurate, but I love the idea. Easy to check a message in a meeting or somewhere that I can't actually listen to it.

 

[MCIowaRulz]

Now just "acquire" Nuance Apple and integrate speech to text into OS X 10.8 and i'll kiss Windows goodbye forever!
I am disabled and use speech to text whenever I have to write papers for college as I can't type more then a few sentences without cramps

 

[entatlrg]

Wow, a totally useless feature for me. Had voice recognition on my BlackBerry, never used it. Have it on my car satnav, never use it.

Stupid waste of money and resources on Apple's part. This is not the future.

Speak for yourself.

 

[ladeer]

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I m truly amazed by apple's ability to innovate in such a mature space again and again ahead of its peers!! Why did no one else think of implementing things like FaceTime, retina display, double glass enclosure, multitouch, visual voice mail, multiple language input (what phone before apple allows native Chinese character support and 10 different Chinese keyboards support built in in America?)

Now this is big! I know many people who only have the basic text plan (200 month) and much rather save those texts for critical times or uninvited text.

Also have u been in a club? It's impossible to talk on the phone in there when u and ur friend separated and need to meet up.

 

[thedarkhorse]

Wow, a totally useless feature for me. Had voice recognition on my BlackBerry, never used it. Have it on my car satnav, never use it.

Stupid waste of money and resources on Apple's part. This is not the future.

haha apple already has voice recognition on the iphone since 3GS. Is it useless? pretty close to it, but the reason is because the tech isn't there yet to get phrases correct consistently, but if they don't keep pushing the tech forward then we won't get there.

 

[rman726]

This sounds like it would be a nice feature.



Correction: This isn't an issue for people under ~30 years old. I know plenty of 40+ year old people who don't have texting plans. And what about landlines?

What is this landline thing you are talking about? People have those still?

 

[japasneezemonk]

Not having a texting plan

Thats really not an issue in 2011.

Am I the only one who feels that texting is an inefficient form of communication? (e.g if a friend calls me to ask what I'm doing I can instantly answer and make some small talk in a matter of seconds. On the other hand, if I get a text message, I have to read the message, type out my reply, wait for reply, etc...)

 

[eoin3-]

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This could be amazing for the deaf or hearing impaired. Taking incoming calls with confidence and making outgoing calls without having to contact a relay service for every call. At least person to person. I imagine that calls to any line that requires push button navigation may not always work if the system requires fast responses to their prompts but again that's what relay services are for.

 

[eoin3-]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

Not having a texting plan

Thats really not an issue in 2011.

Am I the only one who feels that texting is an inefficient form of communication? (e.g if a friend calls me to ask what I'm doing I can instantly answer and make some small talk in a matter of seconds. On the other hand, if I get a text message, I have to read the message, type out my reply, wait for reply, etc...)

The concept of the post office must torture you then!

 

[japasneezemonk]

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The concept of the post office must torture you then!

I do prefer FEDEX!

I just meant that I can get more done with a short phone call than with a long string of text messgaes.

 

[skinnylegs]

Wow, a totally useless feature for me. Had voice recognition on my BlackBerry, never used it. Have it on my car satnav, never use it.

Stupid waste of money and resources on Apple's part. This is not the future.

Do you still use floppy discs as your primary form of removable media?