Data processing: speech signal processing – linguistics – language – Speech signal processing – Application
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-13
2002-09-24
Chawan, Vijay B (Department: 2641)
Data processing: speech signal processing, linguistics, language
Speech signal processing
Application
C704S272000, C704S270000, C704S231000, C345S168000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06456977
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a voice control module, and more particularly, to a voice control module for controlling a game controller.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The user interface of a computer game such as a computer joystick commonly comprises a movable control handle and a plurality of control buttons. The advantage of the control handle and control buttons is ease of operation. However, the various setup and functions of the control buttons vary from game to game. This is obviously not user-friendly as it requires the user to remember different functions for each control button depending on which program is being used. Also, while engrossed in game play, a user may inadvertently press the wrong button as he is unable to watch the keypad and the screen at the same time. This disrupts game play and causes user frustration.
With the advent of voice recognition technology, it can be applied to solve the above mentioned problem. There are currently several voice recognition modules on the market including continuous mode voice recognition and command mode voice recognition devices. As the names imply, the continuous mode voice recognition device recognizes voice input continuously and the command mode voice recognition device does so only intermittently.
In continuous mode, any time voice signals are inputted through the microphone, recognition signal processing occurs immediately. In this process, the input voice signals are compared with pre-existent commands stored in the memory. If an input voice signal is identical to one of the stored commands, the corresponding command will be executed. If there are too many pre-existent commands, it will take too long to compare each one individually. If the time interval between two input voice signals is not long enough, the commands will not be executed at once.
In command mode, a specific button should be pressed first before each voice command is inputted. This alerts the controller to expect an input voice signal. If the input voice command is identical to one of the pre-existent commands, it will be executed. Here, recognition occurs only when a button is pressed so the storage capacity of commands is high. However, it is not convenient for users.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a voice control module for controlling a game controller, which combines continuous mode and command mode in voice recognition to solve the above mentioned problem.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a voice control module for controlling a game controller comprising:
a microphone for inputting voice signals;
a first voice recognition device for converting the voice signals inputted from the microphone within a time period into a corresponding game command; and
a second voice recognition device for converting the voice signals continuously inputted from the microphone into a corresponding switch command;
wherein after the switch command is converted, the second voice recognition device initiates the first voice recognition device to convert the voice signals inputted from the microphone within the time period into a corresponding game command to control the game controller.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the voice control module will distinguish each voice signal automatically without the need for pressing any button, hence it is very easy to use and game play is more fluent.
This and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
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Chawan Vijay B
Hsu Winston
Primax Electronics Ltd.
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