SPHERICAL VOICE CONTROLLED INTELLIGENT PERSONAL ASSISTANT

Abstract

An interactive globe or globular virtual assistant has a spherical body shell comprising one or more high resolution LED panels. Within the globe there are microphones and circuitry for accepting voice recognition (commands) and reacting appropriately. Communication circuitry allows communication with networks such as the internet or cellular networks, speakers allow sound as well as visual display. The panels may be touch sensitive so that it may be controlled by soft buttons rather than voice commands, or it may be controlled by an app on a mobile device or a program on a computer, either locally or remotely. It may display almost limitless information, particularly global and map related information.

Claims

1. A virtual personal assistant, voice controlled and in the shape of a globe, the virtual personal assistant comprising: a globular shell having a curved surface; a support, the globular shell mechanically held by the support; the globular shell comprising at least one high resolution LED panel conforming to the curved surface of the globular shell; a control circuit operative to control the high resolution LED panel, the control circuit also operative to carry out voice recognition, the control circuit responsive to voice recognition; an external communication connection operative to allow communication from outside the globular shell.

2. The virtual personal assistant of claim 1, further comprising: a second high resolution LED panel, in which the two high resolution LED panels are curved to match the curved surface of the globular shell.

3. The virtual personal assistant of claim 1, further comprising: a second high resolution LED panel, in which the two high resolution LED panels are flexible, and adhered to the curved surface of the globular shell.

4. The virtual personal assistant of claim 2, further comprising: an electrically operated drive mechanism, the electrically operated drive mechanism including a stepper motor operative to respond to commands from the control circuit and rotate the globular shell precisely.

5. The virtual personal assistant of claim 4, wherein the support further comprises: a base disposed beneath the globular shell, the base connected to the globular shell by an axis allowing the precise rotation of the globular shell.

6. The virtual personal assistant of claim 4, wherein the support further comprises: a suspension system disposed above the globular shell, the suspension system comprising a rotatable connection to the globular shell allowing precise rotation of the globular shell and a thin resilient member in turn connected to the rotatable connection.

7. The virtual personal assistant of claim 5, wherein the external communication connection further comprises: an RF communication module operative to communicate via wife.

8. The virtual personal assistant of claim 7, wherein the external communication connection further comprises: an RF communication module operative to communicate via Bluetooth.

9. The virtual personal assistant of claim 8, wherein the external communication connection further comprises: an RF communication module operative to communicate via cellular telephone network.

10. The virtual personal assistant of claim 8, wherein the external communication connection further comprises: a wired USB communication port.

11. The virtual personal assistant of claim 8, wherein the external communication connection further comprises: a wired Lightning communication port.

12. The virtual personal assistant of claim 8, wherein the external communication connection further comprises: a wired ethernet communication port.

13. The virtual personal assistant of claim 8, wherein the external communication connection further comprises: a wired stereo mini-jack output port.

14. The virtual personal assistant of claim 10, wherein the control circuit further is operative to charge the globular shell via USB charging.

15. The virtual personal assistant of claim 10, wherein the control circuit further is operative to power the globular shell via USB.

16. The virtual personal assistant of claim 14, wherein the control circuit further is operative to receive commands from a mobile device, the mobile device having a CPU and memory; a virtual personal assistant control app residing in the memory of the mobile device.

17. The virtual personal assistant of claim 14, wherein the control circuit further is operative to receive commands from a computer, the computer having a CPU and memory; a virtual personal assistant control app residing in the memory of the computer.

18. The virtual personal assistant of claim 16, wherein the control circuit further is operative to receive commands from the computer remotely via a network.

19. The virtual personal assistant of claim 14, wherein the control circuit further is operative to access a network in response to the voice recognition.

20. The virtual personal assistant of claim 18, wherein the control circuit is further operative to display upon the high resolution LED panels a plurality of soft buttons; and wherein the high resolution LED panels are touch sensitive and operative to detect activation of a first one of the plurality of soft buttons; and further wherein the control circuit is operative to respond to activation of the first one of the soft buttons.

21. The virtual personal assistant of claim 1, further comprising: a microphone; a speaker; wherein the virtual personal assistant is operative to respond to voice queries and voice commands using voice output and visual display output.

22. An electronic personal assistant for use with a network, the electronic personal assistant comprising: a globular shell having a curved surface; a support, the globular shell mechanically held by the support so that it may rotate freely upon the support; the globular shell comprising a plurality of high resolution touch sensitive LED panels conforming to the curved surface of the globular shell; a control circuit operative to control the high resolution LED panels, the control circuit also operative to carry out voice recognition, the control circuit responsive to voice recognition, the control circuit further operative to display on the high resolution LED panels a plurality of soft buttons, the high resolution LED panels operative to detect activation of a first one of the plurality of soft buttons, the control circuit is operative to respond to activation of the first one of the soft buttons; an external communication connection operative to allow communication from outside the globular shell, the external communication connection having an RF communication module operative to communicate via Bluetooth and wife, the external communication connection further having a wired USB port, the control circuit operative to power the electronic personal assistant via USB, the control circuit further operative to access such network in response to voice recognition; an electrically operated drive mechanism, the electrically operated drive mechanism including a stepper motor operative to respond to commands from the control circuit and rotate the globular shell precisely; a base disposed beneath the globular shell, the base connected to the globular shell by an axis allowing the precise rotation of the globular shell.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0122] FIG. 1 is a PRIOR ART flat screen computer display mounted within some sort of globular housing. This is the best copy available, as it is prior art.

[0123] FIG. 2 is a PRIOR ART block diagram of a computer system with a globe style display as part of the overall system. This is the best copy available, as it is prior art.

[0124] FIG. 3 is a PRIOR ART partially cross-sectional view of a reasonably complex device for globe displays. This is the best copy available, as it is prior art.

[0125] FIG. 4 is a view showing a default setting, one of many possible variant default settings, in which the virtual assistant is doubling as a globe with Australia displayed upon the invention, with additional features visible.

[0126] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the shell of the invention showing only the panels from the inside space within, with other components removed.

[0127] FIG. 6 is a block diagram in cross-section of the invention, with the other components still indicated.

[0128] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the electronic control circuitry and communication devices of the present invention.

[0129] FIG. 8 is a globe view map of the maximum extent of the Mongol Empire c. 1400, with the extent marked on a contemporary view of the Earth. This view furthermore shows other features of the invention.

[0130] FIG. 9 is a zoom view, rather than globe view, of the drainage of the Mississippi River, expanded for maximum detail, and on an alternative embodiment of the invention which is suspended rather than supported from beneath.

[0131] FIG. 10 is a zoom view of the migration pattern of the eastern population of Monarch Butterflies, showing how the invention may also utilize touch control of the interface, display and so on. This view is orthographic to the viewer, so that for clarity the display appears to the user to be flat and round rather than spherical.

[0132] FIG. 11 is a view of the invention running a more or less conventional app which interfaces with a home security system (such as a Nest, Ring, etc) to show a front doorbell camera view.

[0133] FIG. 12 is a view of the invention displaying a financial services app which is actually server based, that is, generated by an internet web site.

[0134] FIG. 13 is a view of an embodiment of the invention with no support post depicted and a user engaged in a swipe gesture, from left to right.

INDEX TO REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0135] FIGS. 1-3:

[0136] The figures are prior art (and the best available images).

[0137] The reference numerals in these figures are not used in the application for the present invention and should be ignored.

[0138] FIG. 4:

[0139] Spherical voice controlled intelligent [0140] personal assistant 400 [0141] Australia 402 [0142] Direction of rotation 404 [0143] Support 406 [0144] Stand/base 408 [0145] USB port 410 [0146] Jack 412

[0147] FIG. 5:

[0148] Cross-sectioned shell of [0149] globe assistant 500 [0150] Shell 502 [0151] Interior of globe assistant 504

[0152] Individual high quality [0153] display panels 506, 508, 510

[0154] FIG. 6: [0155] Cross-sectioned globe assistant 600 [0156] Display shell 602 [0157] Stepper motor 604 [0158] Drive mechanism 606 [0159] Control circuitry 608 [0160] Speaker 610 [0161] Wifi antenna 612 [0162] Bluetooth antenna 614 [0163] Microphones 616

[0164] FIG. 7: [0165] Mobile device 702 [0166] Computer (PC/server) 704 [0167] Network 706 [0168] Cellular network 708 [0169] Communication module 710 [0170] Radio communication module 712 [0171] Wired communication module1 714 [0172] Graphics controller 716 [0173] CPU/RAM 718 [0174] Voice recognition/audio in 720 [0175] Stepper driver 722 [0176] Sound out 724 [0177] Display(s) 726

[0178] FIG. 8: [0179] Globe assistant 800

[0180] Map of maximum extent of [0181] Mongol Empire 802 [0182] Base mounted speaker 804 [0183] Hard button 806 [0184] Microphone 807 [0185] Camera 809

[0186] FIG. 9: [0187] Globe assistant 900 [0188] Suspension point 902 [0189] Suspension 904

[0190] Zoomed map of Mississippi [0191] River drainage 906

[0192] FIG. 10: [0193] globe assistant 1000 [0194] Base 1002

[0195] Migration of the Eastern [0196] Monarch Population 1004 [0197] Touch sensitive soft buttons 1006, 1008, 1010

[0198] FIG. 11:

[0199] Voice controlled intelligent [0200] personal assistant 1100 [0201] Base 1102 [0202] Front doorbell camera view app 1104 [0203] Touch sensitive soft buttons 1106, 1108, 1110

[0204] FIG. 12:

[0205] Voice controlled intelligent [0206] personal assistant 1200 [0207] Base 1202 [0208] Financial trading app 1204

[0209] FIG. 13:

[0210] Voice controlled intelligent [0211] personal assistant 1300 [0212] User finger 1302 [0213] Swipe gesture 1304

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Glossary

[0214] As used herein a “high resolution” display is one which has a high pixel density, such as a Retina® display or the like. LED in this context means not only light emitting diodes but also other electronically activated displays of very high pixel density.

[0215] An electrical drive of high precision may be a stepper motor having the ability to turn precisely by an amount of less than 2 degrees ( 1/180 of a complete turn), and/or geared downward by means of gears, belts or other mechanical arrangements to provide extremely smooth and fine control over rotation of the globular shell of the invention.

[0216] AI refers to artificial intelligence. AI may be internal to the invention, or in the presently preferred embodiment and best mode now contemplated, it may be external AI located in a server/network (an “extelligence”).

[0217] Globe mode may refer to the device of the invention masquerading to a greater or lesser extent, as a globe, or to providing a globe background to other apps, or simply functioning as a globe.

End Glossary

[0218] FIG. 1 is a PRIOR ART flat screen computer display mounted within some sort of globular housing and FIG. 2 is a PRIOR ART block diagram of a computer system with a globe style display as part of the overall system, while FIG. 3 is a PRIOR ART partially cross-sectional view of a reasonably complex device for globe displays. These are the best copies available, as it is prior art not associated in any way with the present applicant and acquired from the USPTO image database. These items are discussed above in the Background section of this application.

[0219] FIG. 4 is a view showing a default setting, one of many possible variant default settings, in which the virtual assistant is doubling as a globe with Australia displayed upon the invention, with additional features visible. Globular assistant 400 shows the user Australia 402. The globe may have been rotating (404) prior to that, or may have been virtually rotating, or even rotating the other direction.

[0220] Support 406 connects the globe shell 400 to a stand/base 408. The control circuitry may be in the base in this embodiment, with USB port 410 and a standard mini jack 412 projecting from a circuit board or on wiring from the circuit board. USB port 410 allows easy connection to networks such as the internet, which in turn allows use of an external AI (an extelligence) found on internet servers rather than within the invention itself. By allowing use of less circuitry, the connection to the external AI reduces the complexity and cost of manufacture of the invention. In addition, the virtual assistant “located” on a remote server computer may respond to voice commands from the user, or other commands from the user, by changing the operation of the spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant 400.

[0221] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the shell of the invention showing only the panels from the inside space within, with other components removed. The cross-sectioned spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant 500 has as its major component the shell 502. Within the shell 502 is an interior space 504.

[0222] The entire shell need not be a large spherical display. Instead it may be composed of joined, individual high quality display panels 506, 508, 510, etc, having a modest curvature. It may also be a shell with the high quality displays adhered to the outside, assuming that use of flexible panels becomes practical and economical in the future.

[0223] FIG. 6 is a block diagram in cross-section of the invention, with the other components still indicated. In FIG. 6 the cross-sectioned spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant 600 still has display shell 602 however the individual high quality display panels (for example 506, previous FIG. 5) are not shown for clarity.

[0224] Stepper motor 604 and drive mechanism 606 may be employed to allow the smart sphere to physically rotate. Obviously, it may as well also visually/virtually rotate by moving the displayed images, not moving the shell. Either option may be used and both have advantages.

[0225] Control circuitry 608 will be explained in greater detail in regard to FIG. 7. However, certain large features may be observed: speaker 610 allows the output of audio such as speech or music. Note that given the size of the globe portion of the intelligent assistant, even stereo is perfectly possible within the space of a single unit. (It may also have remote stereo speakers.) Wifi antenna 612 and Bluetooth® antenna 614 are unlikely to be as depicted but either or both allow wireless connection to other devices, such as networks, mobile devices, computers and so forth.

[0226] Microphones 616 (wiring omitted for clarity) may be spaced about, and located on the base, in order to allow better omnidirectional pickup of sound from users, in particular, voice commands and voice questions. Using a single microphone is also possible, by preventing the body of the spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant from blocking voices.

[0227] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the electronic control circuitry and communication devices of the present invention. Mobile device 702, computer (PC or server) 704, network 706 and cellular network 708 may all connect to the invention by means of communication module 710, which may have both or either of a radio communication module 712 and a wired communication module 714.

[0228] Graphics controller 716 will naturally control the display on the high quality displays which cover the surface of the spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant. CPU/RAM 718 may be employed in embodiments to allow greater autonomous functionality, such as ease of connection, offline operations, data compression in voice recognition and so on and so forth.

[0229] Voice recognition/audio in 720 is used for voice control. Again, with autonomous processing capability the device may have internal voice recognition in some embodiments, while in other embodiments audio in may be sufficient as the audio may then be transmitted to an extelligence for voice recognition processing before the data acquisition and processing.

[0230] Precise optional stepper driver 722, as discussed previously, is capable of providing partial rotations to exact tolerances. By means of gearing, belts, and other mechanical advantage devices the actual rotation may be geared down even further. For example, a stepper motor able to provide 1.8 degree precision (stepping as little as 1.8 degrees, or ½ of 1% of a complete rotation) which had a mechanical disadvantage of 10 to 1, would allow rotation of the spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant by amounts as small as 0.18 degrees, that is, 1/20 of 1% of a complete rotation. This fine control will be necessary if optional mechanical rotation is desired, but of course embodiments may offer only virtual rotation by swiping or other gestural or vocal commands.

[0231] Sound output 724 will allow audio data delivery, very useful not just for busy people not looking at the spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant itself but also for the visually handicapped who happen to end up using the invention. Display(s) out 726 depict the block diagram of the physical displays seen in FIG. 5.

[0232] FIG. 8 is a globe view map of the maximum extent of the Mongol Empire c. 1400, with the extent marked on a contemporary view of the Earth. This view may be zoomed, although in this case it is a complete global view: the next two views show the effects of zooming. This view furthermore shows other features of the invention. Spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant 800 shows the user (with a user selected broken line) a map of the maximum extent of the Mongol Empire 802. The globe assistant 800 has a base mounted speaker 804 (and may have more than one, for stereo) and a base mounted transparent plastic hard button 806, indicating it is an embodiment with the circuitry either split between the globe and the base or the circuitry mostly in the base. Microphone 807 may be mounted in the base, as may camera 809. Note that camera 809 may assist with locating the user and orienting displays in the correct direction.

[0233] FIG. 9 is a zoom view, rather than globe view, of the drainage of the Mississippi River, expanded for maximum detail, and on an alternative embodiment of the invention which is suspended rather than supported from beneath. Spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant 900 has a suspension point 902 which has attached to it suspension 904, in this case a wire. This globe assistant 900 is hung rather than on a base. Zoomed map 906 of the Mississippi River drainage/watershed is clearly not in proportion to the entire planet, rather, the area of interest has been zoomed by the invention at the command of the user. This might be a two finger gesture, a voice command, a command from an app on a mobile device, etc. So, for example, in known prior art a zoom in may be accomplished by spreading two fingers and a zoom out by pinching. Pinching the view of the Mississippi River might reduce it as much as desired, even to a full global view (much like the full global view of the Mongol Empire of FIG. 8). Spreading the view might allow one to zoom in further and further until individual boats docked at Vicksburg might be in view.

[0234] To reiterate, the device is preferably voice and conversationally controlled as well, so a user could simply say, “Globy, zoom in on the Mississippi River basin. I have an assignment due. Zoom more. Zoom more.” And the device might respond with: “Janey, is this enough zoom?” “No, zoom one more time.” Such a conversation could reach whatever level of sophistication AI allows, and since the device may be a terminal which gains its abilities via network connections and network processing power, it's ability could be constantly upgrading without any local download or other upgrade.

[0235] FIG. 10 is a zoom view of the migration pattern of the eastern population of Monarch Butterflies, showing how the invention may also utilize touch control of the interface, display and so on. This view is orthographic to the viewer, so that for clarity the display appears to the user to be flat and round rather than spherical.

[0236] Notice that the buttons corners which are closest to the visual edge of the spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant should be (but are not) smeared and distorted by the curvature of the globe. If they were true spherical rectangles (a rectangle projected on the surface of a sphere, that is, the shape of the state of Wyoming for example) then the buttons would in fact be smeared, visually, unless viewed from directly over each individual button.

[0237] However, the spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant can use audio input from multiple microphones (see FIG. 6) to gain a general location of the user, through binaural or multiaural detection. It may also use a camera with facial recognition technology, not just for security or personalization but again, to orient a running app toward the user. Then the spherical voice controlled intelligent personal assistant can enlarge the “smeared” portions of buttons until they present the appearance of being true (non-spherical) rectangles, more or less with one corner anchored to the surface of the globular shell of the personal assistant and the rest flat and rising above it: an illusion only, the illusion due to removing any sense of three dimensional depth or curvature.

[0238] As noted previously, it is believed that the best mode as presently contemplated is voice input and output.

[0239] Globe assistant 1000 still has base 1002. In the present mode of an orthographic projection, the map of the migration of the Eastern Population of the Monarch Butterfly 1004 is centered toward the user. Surrounding it are various buttons for standard operations of different types. Touch sensitive soft buttons 1006, 1008, 1010 are projections on the touch sensitive high resolution displays, distorted as explained previously in order to appear not distorted. Note that given the ability of a touch sensitive shell to “swipe”, the use of arrow keys, like the use of other keys, an “on-globe” keyboard and so forth, might be customized by the user. Multi-touch commands such as “pinch”, etc. may be supported, in which case old school soft buttons may be entirely eliminated.

[0240] FIG. 11 essentially gets away from the default globe related uses of the invention and focuses on the ability of the voice controlled intelligent personal assistant 1100 to run legacy apps which simply use a portion of the screen for known purposes such as video conferencing.

[0241] Base 1102 is as discussed, while the smart spherical part of the invention is displaying a video conference with a front doorbell camera view app 1104. Touch sensitive soft buttons 1106, 1108, 1110 are as discussed previously.

[0242] FIG. 12 shows the voice controlled intelligent personal assistant 1200 used in an even more “legacy” mode than FIG. 11; in FIG. 12 it is actually showing a more or less browser based (server provided) view from what appears to be a financial trading platform, that is, the device is functioning to “surf the internet” to provide its present app usage. Again, base 1202 is as described previously.

[0243] Note that this embodiment shows the use of multi-touch control (“pinch”, “swipe”, “spread”, “tap” and so forth) so the soft buttons are either eliminated or greatly reduced.

[0244] The device may communicate with other smart devices such as tablets, other assistants, thermostats, refrigerators, and so forth, and may synch to all of these devices or to a desktop or laptop computer. Again, it may work with legacy apps such as those for Apple or Android operating systems.

[0245] FIG. 13 is a view of an embodiment of the invention with no support post depicted and a user engaged in a swipe gesture, from left to right.

[0246] The voice controlled intelligent personal assistant 1300 is in use, and the user is electing not to use voice control but instead is swiping. (Obviously just because the device can display soft buttons, or use gesture control as in this example, does not mean that it is not voice controllable as well.)

[0247] User finger 1302 is seen moving from left to right (as seen from reader view). The swipe gesture 1304 is depicted by a broken arrow representing where the fingertip has been and is moving.

[0248] This gesture might be intended for any purpose depending on the application in use. As a partial and strictly exemplary listing, this might be a character control in a game app, it might be a rotation command in a “globe” view, it might move a map sideways in a mapping application, it might increase or decrease the volume of the voice from the speakers of the invention, or increase or decrease music volume, or it might fast forward a video playback, and so forth.

[0249] The disclosure is provided to render practicable the invention by those skilled in the art without undue experimentation, including the best mode presently contemplated and the presently preferred embodiment. Nothing in this disclosure is to be taken to limit the scope of the invention, which is susceptible to numerous alterations, equivalents and substitutions without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention is to be understood from the appended claims.

[0250] Methods and components are described herein. However, methods and components similar or equivalent to those described herein can be also used to obtain variations of the present invention. The materials, articles, components, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

[0251] Although only a few embodiments have been disclosed in detail above, other embodiments are possible and the inventors intend these to be encompassed within this specification. The specification describes specific examples to accomplish a more general goal that may be accomplished in another way. This disclosure is intended to be exemplary, and the claims are intended to cover any modification or alternative which might be predictable to a person having ordinary skill in the art.

[0252] Having illustrated and described the principles of the invention in exemplary embodiments, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the described examples are illustrative embodiments and can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. Techniques from any of the examples can be incorporated into one or more of any of the other examples. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.