40th week of 2013 patent applcation highlights part 72 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20130262077 | MACHINE TRANSLATION DEVICE, MACHINE TRANSLATION METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM STORING MACHINE TRANSLATION PROGRAM - A machine translation device that translates a first language sentence into a second language sentence, the machine translation device includes: a translation unit configured to translate the first language sentence or the second language sentence into a third language sentence; and a second language translated sentence output unit configured to output a second language sentence corresponding to the first language sentence using a search result obtained by searching a database that stores more example sentences of a third language than example sentences of a first language and a second language using the translated third language sentence as a search key. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262078 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING TEXT CONTENT ON WEB PAGES IN MULTIPLE HUMAN LANGUAGES - Embodiments described herein enable text content on web pages to be displayable in multiple human languages, without need to generate a new page or otherwise navigate the user away from the page under viewing. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262079 | MACHINE LANGUAGE INTERPRETATION ASSISTANCE FOR HUMAN LANGUAGE INTERPRETATION - A language interpretation system receives a request for an interpretation of a voice communication between a first language and a second language. Further, the language interpretation system provides the request to a human language interpreter. In addition, a machine language interpreter translates the voice communication into a set of text data. The text data is sent to a display device that displays the text during a human language interpretation performed by the human language interpreter. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262080 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MULTI-ENGINE MACHINE TRANSLATION - Systems and methods for multi-engine machine translations are disclosed. Exemplary methods and systems involve normalizing and/or tokenizing a source string using user-specific translation data. The user-specific translation data may include glossary data, translation memory data, and rule data for use in customizing translations and sequestering sensitive data during the translation process. The disclosed methods and systems also involve using one or more machine translation engines to obtain a translation of the normalized and/or tokenized source string. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262081 | HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED METHOD ENABLING THE GENERATION OF A PROPOSED CHARACTER INTERPRETATION OF A PHONETIC TEXT INPUT IN A TEXT DISAMBIGUATION ENVIRONMENT - An improved handheld electronic device and associated method enable the phonetic inputting of text using a reduced keyboard and transformation algorithm. The handheld electronic device and method advantageously enable the inputting of languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and the like without limitation. The transformation algorithm subjects each of a number of linguistic element permutations to an algorithm such as the Maximum Matching Algorithm or other algorithm to generate a string of words. The transformation algorithm then selects one string of words as a default textual output based on at least one of its minimal number of words and its relatively high attributed frequency value. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262082 | NATURAL LANGUAGE INCIDENT RESOLUTION - A natural language incident report resolution method and system are provided. Natural language incident reports received from a user are analyzed to determine a category associated with the incident. A database of existing incidents is analyzed to determine whether a report for the incident has already been submitted. The current status or state of the device associated with the incident is then ascertained and the incident, if new, is added to an incident database. If the incident is preexisting, the incident in the database is updated with the current status. A solution database is then queried to determine any solutions, automatic or manual workflows, that may correct the error or fault associated with the incident. The determined solution is communicated to the device associated with the incident for implementation. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262083 | Method and Apparatus for Processing Text with Variations in Vocabulary Usage - Text is processed to construct a model of the text. The text has a shared vocabulary. The text is partitioned into sets and subsets of texts. The usage of the shared vocabulary in two or more sets is different, and the topics of two or more subsets are different. A probabilistic model is defined for the text. The probabilistic model considers each word in the text to be a token having a position and a word value, and the usage of the shared vocabulary, topics, subtopics, and word values for each token in the text are represented using distributions of random variables in the probabilistic model, wherein the random variables are discrete. Parameters are estimated for the model corresponding to the vocabulary usages, the word values, the topics, and the subtopics associated with the words. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262084 | ITERATIVE FORWARD ERROR CORRECTION (FEC) ON SEGMENTED WORDS USING A SOFT-METRIC ARITHMETIC SCHEME - A system is to receive a word on which to perform error correction; obtain segments, from the word, each segment including a respective subset of samples; update, on a per segment basis, the word based on extrinsic information associated with a previous word; identify sets of least reliable positions (LRPs) associated with the segments; create a subset of LRPs based on a subset of samples within the sets of LRPs; generate candidate words based on the subset of LRPs; identify errors within the word or the candidate words; update, using the extrinsic information, a segment of the word that includes an error; determine distances between the candidate words and the updated word that includes the updated segment; identify best words associated with shortest distances; and perform error correction, on a next word, using other extrinsic information that is based on the best words. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262085 | NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING METHOD, NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM STORING NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - A natural language processing apparatus includes a result acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of analysis results indicating parts of speech of morphemes contained in one or more common sentences from a plurality of types of morphological analyzers, a pattern acquisition unit that detects a common segmentation point in the plurality of analysis results, extracts one or more parts of speech corresponding to a character string segmented at the common segmentation point from each of the analysis results, and acquires a set of the parts of speech as a part-of-speech differing pattern, and a candidate specifying unit that extracts the part-of-speech differing pattern with the number of appearances being equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and specifies the character string corresponding to the extracted part-of-speech differing pattern as a character string containing a candidate for an unknown word. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262086 | GENERATION OF A SEMANTIC MODEL FROM TEXTUAL LISTINGS - A corpus of textual listings is received and main concept words and attribute words therein are identified via an iterative process of parsing listings and expanding a semantic model. During the parsing phase, the corpus of textual listings is parsed to tag one or more head noun words and/or one or more identifier words in each listing based on previously identified main concept words or using a head noun identification rule. Once substantially each listing in the corpus has been parsed in this manner, the expansion phase assigns head noun words as main concept words and modifier words as attribute words, where possible. During the next iteration, the newly identified main concept words and/or attribute words are used to further parse the listings. These iterations are repeated until a termination condition is reached. Remaining words in the corpus are clustered based on the main concept words and attribute words. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262087 | SPEECH SYNTHESIS APPARATUS, SPEECH SYNTHESIS METHOD, SPEECH SYNTHESIS PROGRAM PRODUCT, AND LEARNING APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, a speech synthesis apparatus includes a language analyzer, statistical model storage, model selector, parameter generator, basis model storage, and filter processor. The language analyzer analyzes text data and outputs language information data that represents linguistic information of the text data. The statistical model storage stores statistical models prepared by statistically modeling acoustic information included in speech. The model selector selects a statistical model from the models based on the language information data. The parameter generator generates speech parameter sequences using the statistical model selected by the model selector. The basis model storage stores a basis model including basis vectors, each of which expresses speech information for each limited frequency range. The filter processor outputs synthetic speech by executing filter processing of the speech parameter sequences and the basis model. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262088 | Computer-Implemented Method, Program, and System for Identifying Non-Self-Descriptive Terms in Electronic Documents - A computer-implemented method, program, and system for identifying non-self-descriptive terms in electronic documents. The computer-implemented method for identifying a non-self-descriptive term in an electronic document, includes a memory and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and configured to execute the steps of a method. The method includes acquiring a noun included in the corpus data. The method further includes calculating a qualifying level and a qualified level in the corpus data related to each known in the corpus data. The method further includes identifying one or more nouns included in the corpus data as having a qualifying level and/or qualified level satisfying a predetermined condition. The method further includes presenting a term related to one or more of the nouns in the electronic document as a candidate for the non-self-descriptive term in the electronic document. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262089 | NAMED ENTITY EXTRACTION FROM A BLOCK OF TEXT - A data processing method, program, and apparatus for identifying a document within a block of text. A block of text is tokenized into a plurality of text tokens according to at least one rule parser. Each of the plurality of text tokens is sequentially compared to a plurality of document tokens to determine if the text token matches one of the plurality of document tokens. The plurality of document tokens correspond to a plurality of documents which have been tokenized according to the one or more rule parsers. Each matched text token is filtered according to predetermined filtering criteria to generate one or more candidate text tokens. It is then determined whether sequence of candidate text tokens that occur in sequential order within the block of text match sequence of document tokens. If so, then it is determined that the document has been identified within the block of text. The document can correspond to an artist, a song names, and misspellings and aliases thereof. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262090 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REDUCING SEMANTIC AMBIGUITY - A semantic ambiguity reduction system deconstructs the sentence into a number of basic word units according to predetermined word definitions and semantic logic rules. The semantic ambiguity reduction system acquires the semantic judgments based on the basic word units and the semantic logic rules, stores the semantic judgment if only one semantic judgment of the sentence is acquired, and determines a number of keywords of a semantic ambiguity if more than one semantic judgment is acquired. The semantic ambiguity determines critical information by searching the keywords in the word definitions and the semantic judgments being stored, and selects one semantic judgment from the more than one semantic judgment about the sentence according to the critical information. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262091 | AUTOMATED EXTRACTION OF BIO-ENTITY RELATIONSHIPS FROM LITERATURE - Automated, standardized and accurate extraction of relationships within text. Automatic extraction of such relationships/information allows the information to be stored in structured form so that it can be easily and accurately retrieved when needed. Such information can be used to build online search engines for highly specific and accurate information retrieval. The current invention discloses a novel approach to extract such information from raw text based on natural language processing (NLP) and graph theoretic algorithm. The novel method can be applied, for example, to extract protein-protein relationships in biomedical literature. The method can be easily extended to extract other biological relationships between biological terms such as proteins, genes, pathways, diseases and drugs. The method can also be applied to other information domains to extract other relationships. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262092 | Narrative Generator - A narrative generator includes a processor is configured to: implement a plurality of writers to create a plurality of narrative blocks related to selected topic paragraph creators, each writer including a plurality of text options from which a narrative block is constructed, wherein text options are selected for inclusion in a given narrative bock are based at least in part on reference to a narrative companion array and a grammar companion array, wherein the narrative companion array includes semantic values corresponding to the data elements included in any of the plurality of narrative blocks, wherein the grammar companion array includes grammar values associated with the text options included in the plurality of narrative blocks. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262093 | INFORMATION EXTRACTION IN A NATURAL LANGUAGE UNDERSTANDING SYSTEM - A method of extracting information from text within a natural language understanding system can include processing a text input through at least one statistical model for each of a plurality of features to be extracted from the text input. For each feature, at least one value can be determined, at least in part, using the statistical model associated with the feature. One value for each feature can be combined to create a complex information target. The complex information target can be output. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262094 | HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING INDICATION OF A SELECTED DATA SOURCE, AND ASSOCIATED METHOD - A method of enabling input into a handheld electronic device having stored therein a number of language objects includes detecting a selection of a languages, making a determination that the language is a default language or a non-default language, detecting as an ambiguous input an actuation of one or more input members, outputting at least a portion of a number of the language objects that corresponds to the ambiguous input, and outputting an indication representative of the language. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262095 | METHOD OF PROVIDING DYNAMIC SPEECH PROCESSING SERVICES DURING VARIABLE NETWORK CONNECTIVITY - A user device provides dynamic speech processing services during variable network connectivity with a network server. The user device includes a connection determiner that monitors a level of network connectivity between the user device and the network server, a simplified speech processor that processes speech data and is initiated based on a determination by the connection determiner that the level of network connectivity between the user device and the network server is impaired, a memory that stores processed speech data processed by the simplified speech processor, and a transmitter configured to transmit the stored processed speech data. The connection determiner determines when the level of network connectivity between the user device and the network server is no longer impaired. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262096 | METHODS FOR ALIGNING EXPRESSIVE SPEECH UTTERANCES WITH TEXT AND SYSTEMS THEREFOR - A system-effected method for synthesizing speech, or recognizing speech including a sequence of expressive speech utterances. The method can be computer-implemented and can include system-generating a speech signal embodying the sequence of expressive speech utterances. Other possible steps include: system-marking the speech signal with a pitch marker indicating a pitch change at or near a first zero amplitude crossing point of the speech signal following a glottal closure point, at a minimum, at a maximum or at another location; system marking the speech signal with at least one further pitch marker; system-aligning a sequence of prosodically marked text with the pitch-marked speech signal according to the pitch markers; and system outputting the aligned text or the aligned speech signal, respectively. Computerized systems, and stored programs for implementing method embodiments of the invention are also disclosed. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262097 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATED SPEECH AND SPEAKER CHARACTERIZATION - Systems and methods utilize individually selected modulation spectral features for speech and speaker characterization. The method involves construction of a sparse feature space and a method of finding the approximately best feature subset for attributing a specific characteristic of speech or speaker. The current selection method is based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test applied to individual features. The characterization task can be defined empirically and no a-priori theory is necessary to explain characteristic attribution processes. Experimental results indicate that employment of selected modulation spectral features works better than the current state-of-the-art at least in some instances of speech characterization task, e.g. prediction of speaker personality traits, as it is evident from the official results of Interspeech'2012 Speaker Personality Recognition Challenge. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262098 | VOICE ANALYSIS APPARATUS, VOICE SYNTHESIS APPARATUS, VOICE ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS SYSTEM - A speech analysis apparatus is provided. An F0 extraction part extracts a pitch value from speech information. A spectrum extraction part extracts spectrum information from the speech information. An MVF extraction part extract a maximum voiced frequency and allows boundary information for respectively filtering a harmonic component and a non-harmonic component to be obtained. According to the speech analysis apparatus, speech synthesis apparatus, and speech analysis synthesis system of the present invention, speech that is closer to the original voice and is more natural may be synthesized. Also, speech may be represented with less data capacity. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262099 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR APPLYING PITCH FEATURES IN AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION - According to one embodiment, an apparatus for applying pitch features in automatic speech recognition is provided. The apparatus includes a distribution evaluation module, normalization module, and random value adjusting module. The distribution evaluation module evaluates the global distribution of pitch features of voiced frames in speech signals, and the global distribution of random values for unvoiced frames in speech signals. The normalization module normalizes the global distribution of random values for unvoiced frames based on the global distribution of pitch features of voiced frames. The random value adjusting module adjusts random values for unvoiced frames based on the normalized global distribution, so that the adjusted random values can be assigned to unvoiced frames in speech signals as pitch features of the unvoiced frames. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262100 | SPEECH ENCODING UTILIZING INDEPENDENT MANIPULATION OF SIGNAL AND NOISE SPECTRUM - Some embodiments describe methods, programs, and systems for speech encoding. Among other things, a received input signal representing a property of speech is quantized to generate a quantized output signal. Prior to the quantization, a version of the input signal is supplied to a first noise shaping filter having a first set of filter coefficients effective to generate a first filtered signal. Following the quantization, the quantized output signal is supplied to a second noise shaping filter having a second set of filter coefficients, thus generating a second filtered signal. A noise shaping operation is performed to control a frequency spectrum of a noise effect in the quantized output signal caused by the quantization, wherein the noise shaping operation is based on both the first and second filtered signals. Finally, the quantised output signal is transmitted in an encoded signal. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262101 | NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM WITH REMOTE NOISE DETECTOR - Noise reduction system with remote noise detector The present invention relates to a noise reduction system with at least one remote noise detector placed close to at least one noise source, which transmits relevant information to a primary device where it is used for noise reduction. Thereby, acoustic signal enhancement can be achieved via the at least one remote noise detector in that a noise estimate is transmitted to controller for noise reduction in the signal obtained from a primary source. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262102 | Systems and Methods for Off-Board Voice-Automated Vehicle Navigation - A method of providing navigational information comprises processing destination information spoken by a user of a mobile processing system. The processed voice information is transmitted to a remote data center. The processed voice information is analyzed at the data center to recognize components of the destination information. The center generates a list of hypothetical recognized components of the destination by confidence levels as calculated for each component of the information analyzed. The hypothetical recognized component list is displayed with confidence levels at the data center for selective checking by a human data center operator. A set of hypothetical components is selected based on confidence levels in the list. The accuracy of the selected set of hypothetical recognized components of the destination information is confirmed though interactive voice exchanges between the mobile system user and the remote data center. A destination is determined from confirmed components of the destination information. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262103 | Verbal Intelligibility Analyzer for Audio Announcement Systems - A device and method are disclosed for testing the intelligibility of audio announcement systems. The device may include a microphone, a translation engine, a processor, a memory associated with the processor, and a display. The microphone of the analyzer may be coupled to the translation engine, which in-turn may be coupled to the processor, which is in-turn may be coupled to the memory and the display. The translation engine can convert audio speech input from the microphone into data output. The processor can receive the data output and can apply a scoring algorithm thereto. The algorithm can compare the received data against data that is stored in the memory of the analyzer and calculates the accuracy of the received data. The algorithm may translate the calculated accuracy into a standardized STI intelligibility score that is then presented on the display of the analyzer. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262104 | Procurement System - A procurement system may include a first interface configured to receive a query from a user, a command module configured to parameterize the query, an intelligent search and match engine configured to compare the parameterized query with stored queries in a historical knowledge base and, in the event the parameterized query does not match a stored query within the historical knowledge base, search for a match in a plurality of knowledge models, and a response solution engine configured to receive a system response ID from the intelligent search and match engine, the response solution engine being configured to initiate a system action by interacting with sub-system and related databases to generate a system response. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262105 | DYNAMIC LONG-DISTANCE DEPENDENCY WITH CONDITIONAL RANDOM FIELDS - Dynamic features are utilized with CRFs to handle long-distance dependencies of output labels. The dynamic features present a probability distribution involved in explicit distance from/to a special output label that is pre-defined according to each application scenario. Besides the number of units in the segment (from the previous special output label to the current unit), the dynamic features may also include the sum of any basic features of units in the segment. Since the added dynamic features are involved in the distance from the previous specific label, the searching lattice associated with Viterbi searching is expanded to distinguish the nodes with various distances. The dynamic features may be used in a variety of different applications, such as Natural Language Processing, Text-To-Speech and Automatic Speech Recognition. For example, the dynamic features may be used to assist in prosodic break and pause prediction. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262106 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC DOMAIN ADAPTATION IN SPEECH RECOGNITION APPLICATIONS - A system and method for adapting a language model to a specific environment by receiving interactions captured the specific environment, generating a collection of documents from documents retrieved from external resources, detecting in the collection of documents terms related to the environment that are not included in an initial language model and adapting the initial language model to include the terms detected. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262107 | Multimodal Natural Language Query System for Processing and Analyzing Voice and Proximity-Based Queries - The disclosure provides a natural language query system and method for processing and analyzing multimodally-originated queries, including voice and proximity-based queries. The natural language query system includes a Web-enabled device including a speech input module for receiving a voice-based query in natural language form from a user and a location/proximity module for receiving location/proximity information from a location/proximity device. The query system also includes a speech conversion module for converting the voice-based query in natural language form to text in natural language form and a natural language processing module for converting the text in natural language form to text in searchable form. The query system further includes a semantic engine module for converting the text in searchable form to a formal database query and a database-look-up module for using the formal database query to obtain a result related to the voice-based query in natural language form from a database. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262108 | AUDIO SYNCHRONIZATION FOR DOCUMENT NARRATION WITH USER-SELECTED PLAYBACK - Disclosed are techniques and systems to provide a narration of a text. In some aspects, the techniques and systems described herein include generating a timing file that includes elapsed time information for expected portions of text that provides an elapsed time period from a reference time in an audio recording to each portion of text in recognized portions of text | 2013-10-03 |
20130262109 | TEXT TO SPEECH METHOD AND SYSTEM - A text-to-speech method for simulating a plurality of different voice characteristics includes dividing inputted text into a sequence of acoustic units; selecting voice characteristics for the inputted text; converting the sequence of acoustic units to a sequence of speech vectors using an acoustic model having a plurality of model parameters provided in clusters each having at least one sub-cluster and describing probability distributions which relate an acoustic unit to a speech vector; and outputting the sequence of speech vectors as audio with the selected voice characteristics. A parameter of a predetermined type of each probability distribution is expressed as a weighted sum of parameters of the same type using voice characteristic dependent weighting. In converting the sequence of acoustic units to a sequence of speech vectors, the voice characteristic dependent weights for the selected voice characteristics are retrieved for each cluster such that there is one weight per sub-cluster. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262110 | Unsupervised Language Model Adaptation for Automated Speech Scoring - Systems and methods are provided for generating a transcript of a speech sample response to a test question. The speech sample response to the test question is provided to a language model, where the language model is configured to perform an automated speech recognition function. The language model is adapted to the test question to improve the automated speech recognition function by providing to the language model automated speech recognition data related to the test question, Internet data related to the test question, or human-generated transcript data related to the test question. The transcript of the speech sample is generated using the adapted language model. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262111 | AUTOMATED VOICE AND SPEECH LABELING - A system and method for voice and speech analysis which correlates a speaker signal source and a normalized signal comprising measurements of input acoustic data to a database of language, dialect, accent, and/or speaker attributes in order to create a transcription of the input acoustic data. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262112 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USING CONVERSATIONAL BIOMETRICS AND SPEAKER IDENTIFICATION/VERIFICATION TO FILTER VOICE STREAMS - A method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code having programming instructions tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium. The programming instructions are operable to receive an audio stream of a communication between a plurality of participants. Additionally, the programming instructions are operable to filter the audio stream of the communication into separate audio streams, one for each of the plurality of participants, wherein each of the separate audio streams contains portions of the communication attributable to a respective participant of the plurality of participants. Furthermore, the programming instructions are operable to output the separate audio streams to a storage system. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262113 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING DICTATED INFORMATION - A method and system for processing dictated information into a dynamic form are disclosed. The method comprises presenting an image ( | 2013-10-03 |
20130262114 | Crowdsourced, Grounded Language for Intent Modeling in Conversational Interfaces - Different advantageous embodiments provide a crowdsourcing method for modeling user intent in conversational interfaces. One or more stimuli are presented to a plurality of describers. One or more sets of describer data are captured from the plurality of describers using a data collection mechanism. The one or more sets of describer data are processed to generate one or more models. Each of the one or more models is associated with a specific stimulus from the one or more stimuli. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262115 | ALERT MODE MANAGEMENT METHOD AND COMMUNICATION DEVICE HAVING ALERT MODE MANAGEMENT FUNCTION - A computerized alert mode management method of a communication device, the communication device includes a sound capture unit. Vocal sounds of the environment around the communication device are extracted at regular intervals using the sound capture unit. Voice characteristic information of the captured vocal sounds is extracted using a speech recognition method and/or a voice recognition method. The communication device is controlled to work at one of a plurality of predetermined alert modes according to the extracted voice characteristic information. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262116 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELEMENT IDENTIFICATION IN A SIGNAL - A computer-implemented method and apparatus for searching for an element sequence, the method comprising: receiving a signal; determining an initial segment of the signal; inputting the initial segment into an element extraction engine to obtain a first element sequence; determining one or more second segments, each of the second segments at least partially overlapping with the initial segment; inputting the second segments into the element extraction engine to obtain at least one second element sequence; and searching for an element subsequence common to at least a predetermined number of sequences of the first element sequence and the second element sequences. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262117 | SPOKEN DIALOG SYSTEM USING PROMINENCE - The invention presents a method for analyzing speech in a spoken dialog system, comprising the steps of: accepting an utterance by at least one means for accepting acoustical signals, in particular a microphone, analyzing the utterance and obtaining prosodic cues from the utterance using at least one processing engine, wherein the utterance is evaluated based on the prosodic cues to determine a prominence of parts of the utterance, and wherein the utterance is analyzed to detect at least one marker feature, e.g. a negative statement, indicative of the utterance containing at least one part to replace at least one part in a previous utterance, the part to be replaced in the previous utterance being determined based on the prominence determined for the parts of the previous utterance and the replacement parts being determined based on the prominence of the parts in the utterance, and wherein the previous utterance is evaluated with the replacement part(s). | 2013-10-03 |
20130262118 | PLAYBACK CONTROL APPARATUS, PLAYBACK CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM - A playback control apparatus includes a playback controller configured to control playback of first content and second content. The first content is to output first sound which is generated based on text information using speech synthesis processing. The second content is to output second sound which is generated not using the speech synthesis processing. The playback controller causes an attribute of content to be played back to be displayed on the screen, the attribute indicating whether or not the content is to output sound which is generated based on text information using speech synthesis processing. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262119 | TEXT TO SPEECH SYSTEM - A text-to-speech method configured to output speech having a selected speaker voice and a selected speaker attribute, including: inputting text; dividing the inputted text into a sequence of acoustic units; selecting a speaker for the inputted text; selecting a speaker attribute for the inputted text; converting the sequence of acoustic units to a sequence of speech vectors using an acoustic model; and outputting the sequence of speech vectors as audio with the selected speaker voice and a selected speaker attribute. The acoustic model includes a first set of parameters relating to speaker voice and a second set of parameters relating to speaker attributes, which parameters do not overlap. The selecting a speaker voice includes selecting parameters from the first set of parameters and the selecting the speaker attribute includes selecting the parameters from the second set of parameters. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262120 | SPEECH SYNTHESIS DEVICE AND SPEECH SYNTHESIS METHOD - A speech synthesis device includes: a mouth-opening-degree generation unit which generates, for each of phonemes generated from input text, a mouth-opening-degree corresponding to oral-cavity volume, using information generated from the text and indicating the type and position of the phoneme within the text, such that the generated mouth-opening-degree is larger for a phoneme at the beginning of a sentence in the text than for a phoneme at the end of the sentence; a segment selection unit which selects, for each of the generated phonemes, segment information corresponding to the phoneme from among pieces of segment information stored in a segment storage unit and including phoneme type, mouth-opening-degree, and speech segment data, based on the type of the phoneme and the generated mouth-opening-degree; and a synthesis unit which generates synthetic speech of the text, using the selected pieces of segment information and pieces of prosody information generated from the text. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262121 | SOUND SYNTHESIZING APPARATUS - A sound synthesizing apparatus includes a processor coupled to a memory. The processor configured to execute computer-executable units comprising: an information acquirer adapted to acquire synthesis information which specifies a duration and an utterance content for each unit sound; a prolongation setter adapted to set whether prolongation is permitted or inhibited for each of a plurality of phonemes corresponding to the utterance content of the each unit sound; and a sound synthesizer adapted to generate a synthesized sound corresponding to the synthesis information by connecting a plurality of sound fragments corresponding to the utterance content of the each unit sound. The sound synthesizer prolongs a sound fragment corresponding to the phoneme the prolongation of which is permitted in accordance with the duration of the unit sound. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262122 | SPEECH RECEIVING APPARATUS, AND SPEECH RECEIVING METHOD - Disclosed is a speech receiving apparatus. A low-band PLC module and a synthesis filter reconstructs a low-band speech signal of a lost frame from a previous good frame. A high-band PLC module reconstructs a high-band speech signal of the lost frame from the previous good frame. A transforming part transforms the low-band speech signal into a frequency range. A bandwidth extending part generates at least an extended MDCT coefficient as information for the high-band speech signal from the low-band speech signal transformed by the transforming part. A smoothing part smoothes the extended MDCT coefficient. An inverse transforming part inversely transforms the extended MDCT coefficient smoothed by the smoothing part to a time domain. A synthesizing part synthesizes the low-band speech signal, and the high-band speech signal which is inverse-transformed by the inverse transforming part and reconstructed, to output a wideband speech signal. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262123 | Computer-Readable Medium, System and Method of Providing Domain-Specific Information - A computer readable storage medium embodies instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method including receiving a natural language request corresponding to an audio input associated with a user. The computer-readable storage medium further embodies instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to retrieve account information associated with the user from a domain-specific data source through a network based on the natural language request using an application configurable retrieve account data from selected ones of a plurality of domain-specific data sources, process the account information based on the natural language request to produce output information, and provide the output information to an output interface. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262124 | "AT LEAST" OPERATOR FOR COMBINING AUDIO SEARCH HITS - System and method to search audio data, including: receiving audio data representing speech; receiving a search query related to the audio data; compiling, by use of a processor, the search query into a hierarchy of scored speech recognition sub-searches; searching, by use of a processor, the audio data for speech identified by one or more of the sub-searches to produce hits; and combining, by use of a processor, the hits by use of at least one combination function to provide a composite search score of the audio data. The combination function may include an at-least-M-of-N function that produces a high score when at least M of N function inputs exceed a predetermined threshold value. The composite search score employ a soft time window such as a spline function. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262125 | KNOWLEDGE REPOSITORY - A knowledge storage system is described. A specific embodiment is a computer system comprising a knowledge base of general knowledge in structured form which can be added to and queried by untrained users. Various embodiments include the facility for remote computers to access the knowledge stored in the system, natural language questions to be answered, profile screens giving general knowledge about an object in the system, and methods for distinguishing between reliable and unreliable facts. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262126 | Systems and Methods for Off-Board Voice-Automated Vehicle Navigation - A method of providing navigational information includes processing destination information spoken by a vehicle occupant on-board. The processed voice information is transmitted to a remote center wirelessly. The processed voice information is voice recognition analyzed at the remote data center to recognize components of the destination information spoken. The remote center generates a list of hypothetical recognized components of the destination information listed by confidence levels as calculated for each component of the destination information analyzed by the voice recognition system. The hypothetical recognized component list is displayed with confidence levels at the remote center for selective checking by a human data center operator. A component set is selected based on the confidence levels and accuracy of the selected set is confirmed by interactive voice exchanges between the vehicle driver and the remote data center. A destination is determined from confirmed components of the destination information. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262127 | Content Customization - A content processing service may analyze an item of original content and identify several objects, attributes of those objects, and relationships between those objects present in the item of original content. The content processing service may also analyze a source graph, such as a social graph or supplemental graph, and identify several objects, attributes of those objects, and relationships between objects present in the source graph. The content processing service may customize the item of original content by selecting an original object and selecting a source graph object. One or more of the attributes or relationships of the selected original object in the item of original content may be replaced by one or more of the attributes or relationships of the selected source graph object. To customize items of audio content, audio content associated with the source graph object may replace audio content associated with the target graph object. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262128 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR METHOD FOR IMPROVING SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY OF VOICE CALLS USING COMMON SPEECH CODECS - System and method to improve intelligibility of coded speech, the method including: receiving an encoded speech signal from a network; extracting an encoded media data stream and one or more control data packets from the encoded speech signal; decoding the encoded media data stream to produce a decoded speech signal; boosting an upper spectral portion of the decoded speech signal to produce a boosted speech signal; and outputting the boosted speech signal. In another embodiment, the method may include: receiving an uncoded speech signal; processing the uncoded speech signal, wherein the processing comprises generating an unencoded data stream from the uncoded speech signal; boosting an upper spectral portion of the unencoded data stream to produce a boosted speech signal; encoding the boosted speech signal to produce an encoded speech signal; and outputting the boosted speech signal. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262129 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDIO ENCODING FOR NOISE REDUCTION - A method and apparatus for audio signal encoding for noise reduction are provided. The method includes: receiving an audio signal and performing modified discrete cosine transformation (MDCT) on the audio signal to convert the audio signal into a long block or a short block; reducing noise included in the audio signal in accordance with the long block or the short block; and performing advanced audio coding (AAC) on the long block or the short block in which noise is reduced. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262130 | STEREO PARAMETRIC CODING/DECODING FOR CHANNELS IN PHASE OPPOSITION - A method and apparatus for the parametric encoding of a stereo digital-audio signal. The method includes encoding a mono signal produced by downmixing applied to the stereo signal and encoding spatialisation information of the stereo signal. Downmixing includes determining, for a predetermined set of frequency sub-bands, a phase difference between two stereo channels; obtaining an intermediate channel by rotating a first predetermined channel of the stereo signal through an angle obtained by reducing the phase difference; determining the phase of the mono signal from the phase of the signal that is the sum of the intermediate channel and the second stereo signal, and from a phase difference between, on the one hand, the signal that is the sum of the intermediate channel and the second channel and, on the other hand, the second channel of the stereo signal. Also provided are a decoding method, an encoder and a decoder. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262131 | TENANT SCREENING METHOD AND SYSTEM USING PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT - A system and method of using a computer and computer program for rapid tenant screening using a personality assessment. The personality assessment measures tenant characteristics then weights those characteristics to predict tenant behaviors of interest to landlords. The tenant is invited to participate in a personality assessment. The computer software and processor generates an assessment report for the landlord indicating the strengths and weaknesses of the tenant's profile. The landlord uses that profile as selection criteria affecting acceptance decision. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262132 | METHODS, APPARATUSES AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR FACILITATING REAL-TIME METRICS IMPACTING BEHAVIOR OF INDIVIDUALS TO OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE - An apparatus is provided for tracking real time metrics in a health care entity. The apparatus includes at least one memory and at least one processor configured to assign one or more predetermined thresholds to one or more medical events. The processor is further configured to track one or more actions of health care professionals associated with at least one of the medical events of a health care entity in real time. The processor is further configured to compare at least one of the predetermined thresholds to a determined value associated with the actions of the medical event to determine whether the medical event is performed efficiently. Corresponding computer program products and methods are also provided. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262133 | Systems and Methods for Improving Communications and/or Relationships Between Hospitals and EMS Agencies - According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of systems and methods for improving communications and/or relationships between hospitals and emergency medical service (EMS) agencies. In an exemplary embodiment, there is a web-based secure client application for allowing communications between hospitals and EMS agencies. In another exemplary embodiment, there is a web-based secure client application for creating a direct clinical data interface between hospitals and EMS agencies and allowing electronic transfer of information. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262134 | INFORMATION MANAGING SERVER AND METHOD - An information managing server includes: a memory; and a processor configured to execute a procedure, the procedure comprising: registering, in the memory, stored doctor information including information on doctors, registrant information indicating a registrant who provides a registration request, and registration information indicating a state of registration, in accordance with the registration request, possible states of registration including at least provisional registration and definitive registration, and outputting, in accordance with a doctor information request from a user, associated doctor information that is associated with both the registration information indicating the provisional registration and the registrant information indicating the user, among the stored doctor information in the memory. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262135 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDER AND PATIENT COMMUNICATIONS - Generally discussed herein are systems and methods for facilitating provider-patient communication. In one or more embodiments a method includes storing appointment data indicating a scheduled appointment date for a patient to visit a facility, an appointment time for the patient to visit the medical facility, and an appointment type for the patient visit and correlating the appointment type with a predefined set of messages related to the appointment type. The method can include calculating an arrival time for the patient to arrive at the facility, the arrival time prior to the appointment time and calculated as a function of the appointment type, the appointment time, and the appointment date, and sending, using the one or more processors, a message of the predefined set of messages to a specified recipient at the specified time, the specified time calculated as a function of the appointment type, appointment date, and appointment time. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262136 | Method And System For Improving Quality Of Care And Safety And Continuous Physician And Patient Learning - This invention focuses not on archiving an increasing number of medical literature articles, but having a defined number of learning modules, which when matched against certain predefined criteria, issue a learning recommendation to a physician. Systems and method embodiments include determining a pattern of medical treatment, analyzing the pattern with current medical data, and recommending, based on the analysis, at least one of a treatment, a continuing medical education, a learning module, and medical literature. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262137 | Method of Routing an Electronic Prescription to a Non-Participating Dispensing Pharmacy - A method of routing an electronic prescription to a non-participating dispensing pharmacy allows a patient the right to choose the pharmacy of their choice, while being able to take full advantage of the benefits offered by e-Prescribing. The current method provides any pharmacy with the ability to retrieve an electronic prescription without being a participating trading partner of an electronic prescribing network. The system accomplishes this through a method comprising the steps of creating an electronic prescription at a point of care location, transmitting said electronic prescription to the prescribing network, determining if the pharmacy is a participating trading partner, generating a secondary prescription version, hosting the electronic prescription on a secure web portal and transmitting an alert to the pharmacy containing the secondary prescription and a set of instructions for accessing the secure web portal. Furthermore, the network delivers a status of the delivery to the Point of care. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262138 | MEDICATION PREPARATION QUEUE - Methods for managing preparation of a medication for a patient are provided. In one aspect, a method includes receiving information indicative of an order for medication for a patient from an electronic data feed, and determining whether the order for medication for the patient can be filled with a returned medication. The method also includes providing a notification to fill the order with the returned medication when the determination indicates the order can be filled with a returned medication, and providing a notification to fill the order by preparing the medication when the determination indicates a returned medication is not available to fill the order. Systems and machine-readable media are also provided. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262139 | Payer Governed American Medical Information Network (AMIN): Patient, Provider and Payer Federated Healthcare Information Hub. - American Medical Information Network (AMIN) is a cohesive healthcare information hub interlinking three core components by utilizing computer software technologies. The first component is a secured shared web site, which interconnects patients and all “Covered Entities” of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) on a common interface. The second component is a secure public cloud; a host consists of database where all registered user's profile and HIPAA privacy rules are stored with a profile service interfacing the database. Another service, which resides in the secure public cloud, is exchange service to communicate with multiple trading partners including healthcare payer's private domain. The third component of AMIN is payer's private domain, consisting of four services and a software application tool. The application tool provides the capability to dynamically build, expose and govern the functions of main service and publish the function's presentation layer on a shared web interface. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262140 | PATIENT COHORT MATCHING - A computer hardware-implemented method, system, and/or computer program product matches a current patient to a specific patient readmission cohort. The specific patient readmission cohort, made up of patients having a shared attribute, has a historical likelihood of hospital readmission within a predefined post-discharge length of time for members of the specific patient readmission cohort. A database describing a current patient is selected, based on the cost and speed of accessing that database, as well as the probability that the database describes a similar attribute for the current patient as the shared attribute in the specific patient readmission cohort. If the current patient meets the requisite criteria for entry into the specific patient readmission cohort, then a recommendation designed to reduce a likelihood of hospital readmission of the current patient is generated. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262141 | ASSOCIATION OF DATA ENTRIES WITH PATIENT RECORDS FOR A COMPUTERIZED MEDICAL RECORD SYSTEM - Apparatus and a method for associating an electronic patient record with the corresponding patient are described. A data processor accesses a patient record not associated with a unique person and compares the patient identification data to corresponding data in a known patient record to identify a set of likely matching patients. An input is provided for selecting a matching patient. Also disclosed is apparatus for providing customized patient discharge instructions relating information in the electronic patient record to patient-specific discharge instructions. A data processor inserts the patient specific instructions into draft instructions, thereby producing patient-specific discharge instructions. An updated version of charting by exception is disclosed, using macros to positively record data on a medical record that is not specifically marked on a template by the attending medical professional. Also described is an apparatus for translating a visual documentation language, communicating specific medical concepts in a highly compact form, to clinically relevant English, enhancing the usability of a pen/digital camera combination for data entry. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262142 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MINING AGGREGATED CLINICAL DOCUMENTATION USING CONCEPT ASSOCIATIONS - A medical processor computes concept associations by mining aggregated data from patient documents thereby reducing risk of PHI exposure. The processor identifies clinically relevant terms in patient documents, compute associations between pairs of clinically relevant terms using co-occurrences, and filter out random associations. A knowledge provider receives user query concepts, retrieves patient concepts, and extracts relevant apixions from an association matrix. The knowledge provider intersects relevant apixions with patient concepts, ranks and provides the results to the user. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262143 | SAMPLE ANALYZER, SAMPLE ANALYZING METHOD, AND SAMPLE ANALYZING SYSTEM - Provided are a sample analyzer and sample analyzing method capable of performing proper and efficient analysis by fitting measurement items of a sample to the patient. A sample analyzer | 2013-10-03 |
20130262144 | Systems and Methods for Patient Retention in Network Through Referral Analytics - A medical information navigation engine (“MINE”) is capable of inferring referral activity not reported into a referral workflow system by utilizing intent-based clustering of medical information. The intent based clustering reconciles received medical data, from a variety of sources, and then clusters the data by applying one or more clustering rules. After the referrals not otherwise reported are inferred, they may be utilized to generate metrics that can be utilized to enhance patient care, and reduce costs. Metrics may be generated for both in-network and out-of-network referrals in order to distinguish differences in reporting activity. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262145 | PRESCRIPTION DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM - This invention relates to a prescription decision support system of the type comprising a set of variables and domains, a first constraint base comprising a plurality of logical statements, an Assess algorithm module and a Consistent algorithm module. The logical statements of the first constraint base specify the combination of disease states and treatments that are present that should not occur in a prescription. The prescription decision support system further comprises a second constraint base comprising a plurality of logical statements, the logical statements specifying the combination of disease states and treatments, which treatments should be present in the prescription. By providing such a system, it is possible for the prescription decision to reason about complex relationships including the presence or absence of treatments, or dosages, or the presence or absence of disease states. Furthermore, the system is responsive to the specific nature of the patient's case history. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262146 | System For Use In A Network And For Storing Data Imported From One Or More Distinct Devices, Associated Method - In one aspect, the invention provides a system ( | 2013-10-03 |
20130262147 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREEMPTIVE DETERMINATION OF THE POTENTIAL FOR AN ATYPICAL CLINCIAL EVENT RELATED TO THE ADMINISTERING OF MEDICATION - Systems and methods provide for the preemptive determination of the potential of atypical clinical event occurrence related to administering of medications to a person. One method involves receiving a list of possible medications that may be administered to the person during a medical procedure. Subsequently, the medication list is compared to information in the person's medical record. Based on this comparison, a determination is made as to whether one or more matches exist between any of the medications included in the list and the medical record information, the match relating to the potential of an atypical clinical event occurring if the associated medication were to be administered to the person. If a match in fact exists, a response is outputted relating to each match. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262148 | DATA-DRIVEN CONCEPTS FOR PROCESSING CLAIMS - Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for processing claims. In various embodiments, claims can be processed in accordance with a data-driven approach that limits changes to existing claims processing rules. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262149 | DATA-DRIVEN CONCEPTS FOR PROCESSING CLAIMS - Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for processing claims. In various embodiments, claims can be processed in accordance with a data-driven approach that limits changes to existing claims processing rules. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262150 | DATA-DRIVEN CONCEPTS FOR PROCESSING CLAIMS - Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for processing claims. In various embodiments, claims can be processed in accordance with a data-driven approach that limits changes to existing claims processing rules. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262151 | COMPUTER PROGRAM, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR MAPPING SOCIAL SECURITY CLAIMING STRATEGIES - A non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon for directing operation of a processor. The computer program receives personal and financial data for a couple; accesses data for a plurality of Social Security claiming strategies for the couple based on the personal and financial data; and illustrates on a graphical display which of the Social Security claiming strategies would provide the maximum present value of benefits for multiple mortality combinations of the couple so that the couple or an advisor for the couple can quickly ascertain which claiming strategy would provide the maximum benefits for a particular mortality combination. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262152 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CERTIFIED LOCATION DATA COLLECTION, MANAGEMENT, AND UTILIZATION - Location information may be gathered, managed, stored, and/or otherwise utilized to determine unique geo-referenced locations. The geo-referenced locations may be utilized to inform various processes and decisions such as insurance underwriting, risk assessment, pricing, and risk/loss control. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262153 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CERTIFIED LOCATION DATA COLLECTION, MANAGEMENT, AND UTILIZATION - Location information may be gathered, managed, stored, and/or otherwise utilized to determine unique geo-referenced locations. The geo-referenced locations may be utilized to inform various processes and decisions such as insurance underwriting, risk assessment, pricing, and risk/loss control. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262154 | Proactive Matching for Coordination of Benefits - Proactive resolution of coordination of benefits (COB) issues is provided. Payer data is received as membership files from a plurality of payers, the payer data including eligibility and member demographic data. Upon detection of new or modified information, a normalizing engine may be utilized to normalize name information, address information, and social security number information into a format for comparing with other stored payer data according to various rules. A matching engine may be utilized to compare the normalized payer data against other insurance provider data to determine COB instances by discovering matches or partial-matches of member information. A set of rules may be applied to determine a primary versus a secondary payer. An output file, which may comprise matches and COB determinations, raw data, and a web interface for accessing archived reports and files and to generate individual member searches, may be provided to one or more payers. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262155 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COLLECTION AND DISTIBUTION OF MEDICAL INFORMATION - A system for decentralized collection and distribution of medical information through mobile devices. End users interact with the system through a software application installed on a mobile device. Data entered to the application is synced to a server that backs up the data and serves to populate a database of personal health data for analysis. Results of such analyses create value through medical management and informational intervention strategies tailored to meet evidence-based needs and preferences. Based on the analyses, end users and clinicians have the ability to visualize dynamics in health metrics relative to thresholds and to assess the efficacy of therapies and trends in vital signs/labs/vital functions. Functionalities of the system include the ability to populate medical records of end users, inform the full range of medical decision-making opportunities without the need for further examination, maintain adherence to existing evidence-based guidelines, and support the development of new clinical knowledge. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262156 | AUTOMATED REIMBURSEMENT INTERACTIONS - A computerized reimbursement system including at least one reimbursement-enabled mobile communicator having computerized memory functionality, computerized communications functionality and wireless payment functionality and at least one reimbursement-enabled computer server having computerized memory functionality and computerized communications functionality, at least one of the at least one reimbursement-enabled mobile communicator and the at least one reimbursement-enabled computer server storing reimbursement policy parameters which are selectable by a reimbursing party using the system, the reimbursement policy parameters including at least payee location and transaction amount, at least one of the at least one mobile communicator and the at least one computer server being operative to automatically complete payment transactions which are compliant with the reimbursement policy parameters and to automatically reject payment transactions which are not compliant with the reimbursement policy parameters. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262157 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING PAYROLL-RELATED INSURANCE DATA - A computer system accesses payroll-related insurance premium data at an individual employee level and provides the data at the individual employee level, including cost of insurance at the individual employee level, on a client device. A computer system compares stored data with payroll data and identifies employees lacking occupation classification information for payroll-based premium determination. The computer system provides a fillable form on a user device for the user to provide occupation classification data, and receives the occupation classification data. The computer system provides fillable forms on a user device for a user to provide payroll data for receipt by the system, runs business rules on the received payroll data, determines premiums for payroll-based insurance coverage. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262158 | PORTABLE DEVICE FOR HOTEL ROOM SELECTION AND CHECK-IN - An apparatus for hotel room selection and check in includes a database, user interface, room key dispenser, and computer processor. The apparatus stores and displays images and descriptions of a hotel or parts of a hotel to help a person make a room selection. The apparatus includes a touch screen on which touch-sensitive graphical buttons are displayed to allow a person to set selection criteria, which are used by the processor as filter parameters. The filter parameters are applied, by the apparatus or an external system, to a hotel room data set to obtain information about one or more hotel rooms that meet the person's selection criteria. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262159 | Finding Best Seating Selections via Algorithmic Search - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, are described for contiguously seating passengers in a travel conveyance. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a seat request for multiple seats, and, in response to receiving the seat request, calculating factors associated with each seat in a set of eligible seats. The method includes defining an initial set of seats as a subset of the set of eligible seats, defining a set of factors for each seat in the initial set of seats, associating a priority with the multiple factor sets, where the factors include multiple contiguity and vacancy factors, the contiguity factors being of a higher priority than the vacancy factors. The method includes processing the factors based on the priority to identify an anchor seat from the initial set of seats, assigning the multiple seats based on the anchor seat. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262160 | Method for the automated communication of parking spaces - In a method for automatically communicating parking spaces, parking spaces of different car park operators, at different locations provided for utilisation are recorded by a central computer in a data base indicating at least the location, availability and usage terms and provided for the purpose of automatic management and for being queried via a computer-based network. Suitable parking spaces are offered to a customer starting a query for selection including usage terms, wherein during the query destination is indicated. An automatically generated authorisation identification code is electronically communicated to the customer when booking a parking space. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262161 | TICKET PROCESSING METHOD AND PROGRAM OF THE SAME - In the ticket processing system | 2013-10-03 |
20130262162 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING IMMEDIATE CONFIRMATION FOR SHIPPING SERVICES - A method and related system allow reservations of shipping slots on a vessel. The method includes accepting for pre-allocation from a carrier, slots on a voyage of the vessel, corresponding carrier booking numbers for the slots, and shipping rules for the slots. A booking request from a shipper is accepted to reserve one or more of the pre-allocated slots on the vessel, together with shipping information for the booking request. The shipping information is correlated against the shipping rules for the slots to determine if the booking request can be accepted. If the booking request can be accepted, the carrier booking numbers corresponding to the reserved slots are then provided to the shipper, and the corresponding slots are marked as reserved. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262163 | Method and System for Distributing Electronic Tickets with Visual Display - This invention discloses a novel system and method for distributing electronic ticketing such that the ticket is verified at the entrance to venues by means of an animation or other human perceptible verifying visual object that is selected by the venue for the specific event. This removes the need to use a bar-code scanner on an LCD display of a cell phone or other device and speeds up the rate at which human ticket takers can verify ticket holders. The system also can permit ticket purchase verification in the absence of a network connection during verfication. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262164 | Providing an Advertisement Based on a Geographic Location of a Wireless Access Point - A method includes receiving, at an information provider, identification information of a portable computing device from a wireless access point. The method includes determining, at the information provider, a service, a product, or both, to be potentially used by a user of the portable computing device. The service, the product, or both, is determined based on a prior user preference of the user. The prior user preference is obtained from a user profile identified based on the identification information. The method includes selecting, at the information provider, an advertisement associated with a business. The advertisement is selected based on the service, the product, or both, to be potentially used by the user and based on a geographic location of the wireless access point. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262165 | SENDING RECOMMENDATION INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH A BUSINESS OBJECT - Sending recommendation information associated with a business object is disclosed, including: receiving from a user terminal a request for data associated with a business object; determining a count of requests for the data associated with the business object from the user terminal based at least in part on the request; and determining whether the count of requests meets a request threshold value associated with the business object, wherein in the event that the count of requests meets the request threshold value, sending the requested data and a set of recommendation information associated with the business object to the user terminal. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262166 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SPAWNING SMALLER VIEWS FROM A LARGER VIEW - A method includes defining a first component set of one or more first components; defining a second component set of one or more second components; and defining an original set of relationships, each relationship being between one component of the first component set and one component of the second component set. The method further includes decomposing the original set of relationships into a collection of view sets, each view set having at least one subset of the original set of relationships where the first and second components are associated with the respective relationships of the subset, and each view set satisfies a set of constraints. The components may be elements of a business model. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262167 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR CONNECTED SALES ASSOCIATE SERVICES - A method and system for providing a connected sales associate service application via a mobile device. The application provide for an integrated platform upon which various tools for providing support to a sales associate are built. The application includes a database of information regarding the sales associates and operational information regarding a retail establishment, and provides a user interface for allowing the sales associate to access a central server for the retail establishment along with multiple additional sales associates on multiple additional mobile devices. The user interface displays information regarding trending sales data for the retail establishment and information regarding the sales associates accessing the central server. A sales associate can select and display information regarding one of the sales associates accessing the central server to at least one of view, create, delete, or assign a task to the selected sales associate | 2013-10-03 |
20130262168 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT - According to various exemplary embodiments, a social media message posted on a social media system is accessed. Moreover, an agent listed in an agent directory is classified as an expert of content referred to in the social media message, based on a keyword identified in the social media message. Further, an identifier of the agent may be displayed in an expert finder list of a user interface. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262169 | AUTOMATED CONTRACT MEDIATOR - An automated contract mediation system that (a) accepts tasks and parameters associated with the tasks from a requesting entity including a commitment to review the deliverables once received, (b) enables the requesting and commitment to complete the tasks to another entity, (c) receives deliverables related to the task from the other entity, (d) presents the deliverables to the requesting entity, (e) receives acceptance or rejection of the deliverables and takes action accordingly. For instance, if the deliverables are rejected, a deviation report can be submitted through the system to the other entity. The system also can process change requests, generate meeting minutes and provide risk management assessments. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262170 | DATA CENTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD - An apparatus for managing a data center. The apparatus for managing a data center can include a memory configured to store asset information, personnel information, and task information, wherein the store asset information, the personnel information, and the task information are linked. The apparatus for managing a data center can also include a processor configured to record a first task information of the task information based on associated asset information of the asset information and associated personnel information of the personnel information. The processor can be further configured to determine a completion of a task associated with the first task information based on the first task information, the associated asset information and the associated personnel information. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262171 | System and Method for Directing and Monitoring the Activities of Remote Agents - Systems and methods for directing activities of remote agents via a scheduling engine which generates a proposed schedule based on predetermined business rules, contact parameters for the target locations, and the geo-coded information of the target locations. The target locations have contacts to be visited by a remote agent. The schedule is transmitted by a remote activity manager to the remote agent's handheld unit via a wireless network. The schedule and the geo-coded information may be displayed via a use interface. The remote agent may supply visit information. The location of the handheld unit may be tracked at predetermined intervals in order verify the visit. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262172 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE OPERATION OF PLANTS - A method for operation of plants includes a) Registering those operating resources which are present in a plurality of plants and have an influence on the functional capability of said plants, b) Specifying in each case first and second availability criteria for these operating resources, c) Registering availability data relating to the operating resources, d) comparing the availability data with the availability criteria, in order to determine operating resources which do not satisfy the availability criteria, e) For those operating resources that do not satisfy the first availability criterion: identifying measures by means of which the functional capability of the plants is extended by increasing the availability of the operating resource or by providing an alternate operating resource, and implementing these measures, f) For those operating resources that do not satisfy the second availability criterion: requesting and registering current availability data and repeating d. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262173 | PRIORITIZING CALENDER EVENTS - Prioritizing events in electronic calendars, in one aspect, may automatically prioritize meetings based on the positions within an organization of the individuals attending, as well as the relationship among each of the individual meeting invitees. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262174 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STORE LEVEL LABOR DEMAND FORECASTING FOR LARGE RETAIL CHAIN STORES - A system and method for store level labor demand forecasting for large retail chain stores are disclosed. In one embodiment, a chain store level labor budget in labor hours for a future point-in-time is determined. Further, backend labor hours are obtained for each store using a backend regression equation that is based on forecasted independent variables. Furthermore, frontend labor hours are obtained for each store using a frontend regression equation that is based on customer service driven factors and using a what if scenario model to select best case values of the customer service driven factors. In addition, needed store level labor hours are obtained for each store by aggregating the obtained backend and frontend labor hours. Moreover, store peer groups are formed and a performance rank of each store within each store peer group is obtained. Also, allocated chain store level labor hours to each store are optimized. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262175 | RANKING OF JOBS AND JOB APPLICANTS - A ranking system ranks applicants for a job. Eligible applicants are selected from a pool of applicants and are ranked based on business rules applied to information about the eligible applicants and information about the job. Scores are calculated for the business rules based on how well the applicant information matches the job information in areas such job skills, educational background, availability and pay. Additional information such as whether an employer or applicant does not wish to work together, and staffing firm expenses associated with eligible applicants can also be considered in the ranking process. The business rules can be weighted to achieve various ranking objectives, such as increasing staffing firm revenue or awarding higher rankings to applicants whose skills and educational background better match an employer's needs. The ranking system can also be used to rank jobs for an applicant. | 2013-10-03 |
20130262176 | HYBRID BALANCING OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND - Certain embodiments include methods, systems, and non-transitory computer program products for fulfilling supply and demand. The method includes receiving a demand for a resource, and determining a plurality of relationships among related resources. The related resources can represent dependent resources needing to be fulfilled in order to fulfill the demand for the resource. The relationships can group the related resources into levels according to the dependencies. For each level, the method further includes processing dependent resources depth-first proceeding down levels, if an importance of the related resources indicates there are no more important related resources to process at the level, and interrupting the depth-first processing to process related resources breadth-first at the level, if the importance of the related resources indicates there are more important related resources at the level. | 2013-10-03 |