Voice activated/voice responsive item locater

Abstract

The present invention is an item location system which relies upon voice activation and responsiveness to identify location(s) of item(s) sought by a user. The system includes a continuous speech recognition digital signal processor, a programmable microprocessor interfaced therewith, voice input and user feedback mechanisms, including audio and/or video feedback. Preferred embodiments utilize audio feedback to the user. The continuous speech recognition engine utilizes Hidden Markov Models to create real time continuous speech recognition and feedback.

1. An item locator system having both  voice activation and voice responsive  capabilities for location feedback to locate one or more specific goods in a retail store  facility, which comprises  said system comprising:
 a.) a support structure, for physically supporting said system at one or more locations, and functionally containing or connected to the following components: 
 b.)  a continuous speech recognition digital signal processor (DSP), wherein said continuous speech recognition engineDSP utilizes tokens of raw acoustic signals representing utterances or words and matches these against a set of models and then relies upon likelihood  to select a most likely model to decode signals for interpretation;  
 c.)  a programmable  microprocessor interfaced with, coupled to said speech recognition  DSP; , d.) sufficient programming and circuitry contained within said programmable microprocessor  to provide for voice activation and voice recognition andaudio and/or visual response to provide item location to a user wherein item and location data are defined by manager input to said system ;  
 e.)  voice input means connectedcoupled to said speech recognition  DSP;  
 f.)at least one memory storage means connected to, coupled to said programmable  microprocessor and/or said DSP, for storage of operational inputs, control inputs, and a voice recognition vocabulary for storage of command match and execute functions; and  
 g.)  at least one user feedback unit and connection from, coupled to said programmable  microprocessor to said at least one user feedback unit, said at least one user feedback unit ,adapted to provide audio and/or visual feedback selected from the group consisting of audio feedback, visual feedback and combinations thereof,  to asaid user in response to an item location query.  
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1  wherein said user feedback unit includes visual display means for viewing visual feedback in the form of text, or  a map, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1  wherein said user feedback unit includes sufficient hardware and software to provide audio feedback to a  said user in response to recognizable voice input. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1  wherein said at least one memory storage means further  includes flash ROM storage  and provides for remote diagnostics and system programming. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1  wherein said voice input means includes a microphone. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1  which  further includes  including a secured manual control panel for input and management of item and location data into said system. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 6  wherein said manual control panel further contains: a keypad and menu for operation and programming options, a microphone, and a screen for input and feedback display. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1  which additional components further includes  wherein said user feedback unit comprises:
 an audio feedback component which includes  including audio feedback hardware and a software adapter to audibly respond to recognizable voice input, including  wherein said audio feedback component uses digital-to-analog conversion; and an output speaker to provide audio feedback to said user.  
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1  wherein said DSP includes a continuous speech recognition engine having  a continuous speech signal recognizer and a continuous speech signal interpreter. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1  wherein said programing and circuitry within said programmable  microprocessor includes an embedded, voice-driven interface for control of operational instructions, system locator function operations, and option and default functions. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 1  wherein said response to provide item location to a user includes aisle location. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 1  wherein said response to provide item location to a user includes shelf location. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 1  wherein said response to provide item location to a user includes aisle and shelf location. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 1  wherein said response to provide item location to a user includes bin number. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 1  wherein said response to provide item location to a user includes row and slot location. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 5  wherein said microphone is selected from the group consisting of: a receiver handset, a headset, and a built-in microphone. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 1  wherein said support structure is a portable support structure  further comprising a support structure, for physically supporting at least a portion of said item locator system, and functionally containing or connected to said voice input means and said at least one user feedback unit. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 1  wherein said speech recognition engine uses  DSP comprises a continuous speech recognition engine operable to use Hidden Markov Models for its continuous speech recognition engine . 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 6  wherein said speech recognition engine uses Hidden Markov Models for its continuous speech recognition engine  DSP comprises a continuous speech recognition engine operable to use Hidden Markov Models. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 8  wherein said speech recognition engine uses Hidden Markov Models for its continuous speech recognition engine  DSP comprises a continuous speech recognition engine operable to use Hidden Markov Models. 
     
     
       21. An item locator system for location feedback to locate one or more specific items in a facility, comprising:
   at least one processor operable to receive acoustic signals representing utterances or words, match the acoustic signals against a set of models, and select one of the set of models to decode the acoustic signals, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to detect a trigger word for continued interpretation of the utterances or words;        at least one memory coupled to at least one processor for storage of operational inputs and a voice recognition vocabulary of command match and execute functions; and        at least one user feedback circuit coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one user feedback circuit is operable to provide visual or audio feedback to a user in response to an item location query.      
     
     
       22. A locator system comprising:
   a local processor residing in a facility;        a database, coupled for access by the local processor, storing location information for each of a plurality of items in the facility;        a remote processor, coupled to communicate with the local processor, operable to update at least a portion of the database;        a voice - driven interface, coupled to the local processor, for accepting acoustic signals corresponding to a request by a user for the location of at least one of the plurality of items; and        a controller, coupled to the local processor, to provide audio or visual signals to the user regarding the location of the at least one of the plurality of items.      
     
     
       23. The locator system of  claim 22  wherein the database resides remotely from the local processor.  
     
     
       24. The locator system of  claim 22  wherein:
   the facility is a retail store; and        the item is a consumer item.      
     
     
       25. A locator system comprising:
   at least one processor for processing acoustic signals corresponding to a request by a user for the location of at least one of a plurality of items in a facility;        a database, coupled to the at least one processor, storing location information for each of the plurality of items; and        at least one memory, coupled to the at least one processor, for storage of an originally active vocabulary and a voice recognition vocabulary of command match and execute functions, wherein the at least one processor is configured to access the at least one memory when processing the acoustic signals, and the at least one processor is configured to access the database to provide information to the user regarding the location in the facility of the at least one of the plurality of items.      
     
     
       26. The locator system of  claim 25  wherein the at least one memory is programmable by a manager input.  
     
     
       27. The locator system of  claim 25  wherein processing the acoustic signals comprises using Markov models. 
     
     
       28. A locator system comprising:
   a plurality of user locations, each comprising a local processor, located in a facility;        a database, coupled for access by the local processor of each of the plurality of user locations, storing location information for each of a plurality of items in the facility; and        wherein each of the plurality of user locations further comprises:      a voice - driven interface for accepting acoustic utterances or words from a user to request the location of at least one of the plurality of items;        at least one memory with a voice recognition vocabulary for storage of command match and execute functions; and        a controller to provide audio or visual signals to the user regarding the location of the at least one of the plurality of items.       
     
     
       29. The locator system of  claim 28  further comprising a remote processor, coupled to communicate with each of the plurality of user locations, operable to update at least a portion of the database through manager inputs provided to the remote processor.  
     
     
       30. The locator system of  claim 28  further comprising a map to provide the location of the at least one of the plurality of items to the user.  
     
     
       31. The locator system of  claim 28  wherein the at least one memory further stores an originally active vocabulary.