BR-112019001236-B1 - METHOD FOR PERFORMING A SUPPLEMENTARY FUNCTION FOR A NATURAL LANGUAGE QUERY PRESENTED TO AN INTERACTIVE MEDIA GUIDANCE APPLICATION

Abstract

"SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING SUPPLEMENTARY FUNCTIONING FOR A NATURAL LANGUAGE QUERY". The present invention relates to systems and methods described for addressing deficiencies in conventional conversational systems by performing a customized supplementary function for a natural language query based on the user's profile. In some respects, the systems and methods receive a user query for a media resource, determine a query model in the user profile that matches the user query, and identify and execute a supplementary function that matches the query model, in addition to responding to the user query. The user profile is customized to the user's usage patterns of an interactive media guidance application. By monitoring user usage patterns and learning from user actions in conjunction with the user's natural language queries, on which the supplementary functions are performed, the interactive media guidance application can provide a smarter and more efficient user experience.

Inventors

• Sashikumar Venkataraman
• AHMED NIZAM MOHAIDEEN P

Assignees

• Rovi Guides, Inc

Dates

Publication Date

20260317

Application Date

20170728

Priority Date

20160729

Claims (10)

1. 1. A method for executing a supplementary function for a natural language query presented to an interactive media guidance application, characterized in that it comprises: receiving, via a user input interface, a query for a media resource; generating for display a response to the query for the media resource; retrieving a user profile that indicates the usage patterns of a user of the interactive media guidance application; in response to the determination that the user profile includes a query template corresponding to the user query: identifying, based on the usage patterns, a supplementary function that was previously executed after receiving a previous query corresponding to the query template; and executing the supplementary function subsequent to the generation for display of the response to the query for the media resource.
2. 2. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises: generating the display of an interactive media guidance screen that includes the media resource and output from the execution of the supplementary function.
3. 3. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the supplementary function comprises a search function to identify a content source where the media resource is available, and in that generating the interactive media guidance screen display that includes the output of the execution of the supplementary function comprises generating the interactive media guidance screen display, which includes the media resource and the content source where the media resource is available.
4. 4. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the supplementary function comprises a search function to identify a guidance resource related to the media resource, and in that generating the interactive media guidance screen display that includes the output of the supplementary function execution comprises generating the media resource display and the guidance resource related to the media resource.
5. 5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the guidance feature is a recording request for the media feature.
6. 6. A method, according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that determining whether the user profile includes the query pattern that corresponds to the query comprises: identifying one or more symbols in the query; and determining whether the user profile includes the query pattern that corresponds to at least a part of one or more tokens.
7. 7. A method, according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the user profile indicating the usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application user includes a plurality of query models and a corresponding plurality of supplementary functions, and wherein identifying the supplementary function comprises identifying the supplementary function of the user profile.
8. 8. A method, according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that the user profile indicating the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application includes a plurality of query models and a remote database includes a plurality of supplementary functions that correspond to the plurality of query models and the supplementary function comprises identifying the supplementary function of the remote database.
9. 9. A method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that the query model is a first query model and the supplementary function is a first supplementary function, wherein the method further comprises: in response to the determination that the user profile does not include a query model that corresponds to the user's query; retrieving a generic profile that indicates the generalized usage patterns of a plurality of users of the interactive media guidance application; determining whether the generic profile includes a second query model that corresponds to the user's query.
10. 10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises: in response to the determination that the generic profile includes the second query model that corresponds to the query: identifying a second supplementary function that was previously executed after receiving a prior query corresponding to the second query model; executing the second supplementary function subsequent to the generation to display the response to the media resource query; and generating the display of an interactive media guidance screen that includes the media resource and output from the execution of the second supplementary function.

Description

BACKGROUND [001] Conventional conversational systems are configured to respond to a user's query, such as a natural language query, with results for the user's query, such as media resources of interest to the user. Some conventional conversational systems may also include a pre-programmed generic response, such as "Thank you" or "See you later!". Some conventional conversational systems may also include a pre-programmed response based on the time of day, such as "Good morning" or "Good evening". However, these pre-programmed responses are generic for all users of the conversational system and do little to improve the user experience during interaction with the conversational system. SUMMARY [002] The systems and methods are described to address deficiencies in conventional conversational systems by performing a customized supplementary function for a natural language query based on the user's profile. The systems and methods receive a user query for a media resource, determine a query template in the user profile that matches the user query, and identify and execute a supplementary function that matches the query template, in addition to responding to the user query. The systems and methods can be implemented via an interactive media guidance application running on a user's device, a remote server, or another suitable device. The interactive media guidance application can be partially implemented on multiple devices, so that some parts of the interactive media guidance application run on one device while other parts of the interactive media guidance application run on another device. The user profile can be based on the user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application. [003] For example, in addition to answering the user's natural language query, the interactive media guidance application can execute a customized supplementary function to generate a follow-up question for the user based on the likelihood of what the user typically does after receiving an answer to a similar query. For example, the user might enter a natural language query such as "Who played the role of Tony Montana in Scarface?". The interactive media guidance application might respond with an appropriate answer such as "Al Pacino played the role", and execute a customized supplementary function based on the user's profile to generate a follow-up question for the user such as "Would you like to see other films by him?". The supplementary function to generate the follow-up question can be chosen based on the user's profile. The user's profile might indicate that, for queries that match a specific query pattern, such as "Who played the role of character X in film Y", a supplementary function to generate a follow-up question for other films by the actor should be executed. This might have occurred because, in past use of the interactive media guidance application, the user typically requested other films by the actor after entering that query. The interactive media guidance app can trigger the display of other films by the actor upon receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance app can provide information about other films by the actor directly to the user without first asking a question. [004] In another example, the user might enter a natural language query, such as "What's playing on ZNN?". The interactive media guidance application can respond with an appropriate answer, such as "ZNN Newsreel", and execute a customized supplementary function based on the user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, such as "Do you want to tune in to ZNN?". The supplementary function to generate the subsequent question can be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or another suitable profile. The user's profile might indicate that, for queries that match a specific query model, such as "What's on Channel Z", a supplementary function to generate a subsequent question asking whether tuning in to Channel Z should be performed. This may have occurred because, in previous use of the interactive media guidance application, the user would typically tune the channel after entering such a query. The interactive media guidance application can tune in to Channel Z upon receiving an affirmative answer from the user. Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application can directly tune in to Channel Z without first asking the user a question. [005] In another example, the user might enter a natural language query, such as "Is there a new season of Blue is the New Red?". The interactive media guidance application might respond with an appropriate answer, such as "Yes, the new season was released last week," and execute a customized supplementary function based on the user's profile to generate a follow-up question to the user, such as "Do you want to watch it on TVMAX?". The supplementary function to generate the follow-up question might be chosen based on the us