Deborah Ann Dahl

US Patent:

20130031476, Jan 31, 2013

Filed:

Jul 23, 2012

Appl. No.:

13/555232

Inventors:

Emmett COIN - Canton MI, US
Deborah Dahl - Plymouth Meeting PA, US
Richard Mandelbaum - Jamaica NY, US

International Classification:

G06F 3/048

US Classification:

715706

Abstract:

A method and system is presented for providing information to a user interactively using a conversation manager thereby mimicking a live personal assistant. Communication between the user and the system can be implemented orally and/or by using visual cues or other images. The conversation manager relies on a set of functions defining very flexible adaptive scripts. As a session with a user is progressing, the conversation manager, obtains information from the user refining or defining more accurately what information is required by the user. Responses from the user result in the selection of different scripts or subscripts. In the process of obtaining information, data may be collected that is available either locally, from a local sensor, or remotely from other sources. The remote sources are accessed by automatically activating an appropriate function such as a search engine and performing a search over the Internet.