/Patent Tracker
GooglePatent applicationPhones & computersInterest 6/10

Google patents mixing touch and voice to pick actions in apps

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

This filing describes a system where a user taps a screen icon to reveal a list of possible actions, then uses their voice to choose one. The device combines these two inputs to perform the task, aiming to make interactions faster and more flexible.

Why it mattersIt offers a smoother way to control apps by letting users switch between tapping and talking without restarting the process.

In the filing’s own words

This document describes systems and techniques directed at adaptive user interfaces (UIs). In aspects, a computing device having a display, a speaker, and a UI manager is configured to output a graphical user interface (GUI) including a plurality of GUI elements. The UI manager receives a first user selection (e.g., touch input) of a GUI element and determines one or more actions that are associated with the selected GUI element. The UI manager outputs the one or more actions for display, receives a second user selection (e.g., voice input) of an action, and performs, responsive to the second user selection, the action. By so doing, the UI manager enables a user to interact seamlessly with the computing device via touch and voice inputs. This flexibility improves user experience and increases an efficiency at which the user can interact with the computing device.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: outputting, by a computing device, a user interface (UI) comprising a plurality of UI elements; receiving, by the computing device, a touch input that selects a UI element of the plurality of UI elements; determining, by the computing device and responsive to the selection of the UI element, one or more actions applicable to an application associated with the UI element; outputting, by the computing device, one or more additional UI elements that are associated with the one or more actions; receiving, by the computing device, a voice input that selects an additional UI element of the one or more additional UI elements, the additional UI element associated with an action of the one or more actions; and performing, by the computing device and responsive to the voice input, the action associated with the additional UI element.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Adaptive User Interfaces
Publication number
US20260310403A1
Application number
19481239
Filed
May 31, 2023
Published
Oct 8, 2026
Inventors
6
Claims
23

Classified under

G06F 3/167 Physics & computingG06F 3/04842 Physics & computingG06F 3/0488 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

More from Google in Phones & computers

Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.