Patent ID: 6830452
Filing Date: 2004-12-14
Classification: G09B

Abstract:
A virtual learning system adapted to provide a child with answers to at least one audible inquiry that the child provides when observing an image on a screen of a computer capable of producing sound, the system comprising:(a) an image creation means for creating the image on the display in response to at least one audible word from the child, comprising: (1) a computer having an output terminal provided with a screen; (2) an electronic dictionary associated with the computer in which is digitally stored the phonetic sounds of words that identify objects and the letters of the alphabet that spell the words, including an object in response to the at least one audible word; said electronics dictionary being contained in software downloaded into the memory of the computer; (3) an image library associated with the computer in which is digitally stored images of objects, including an image of said object in response the at least one audible word; and (4) means including a voice recognition unit in the input of said computer, the unit acting to recognize the distinctive sound pattern of the child speaking into the unit and to condition the electronic dictionary to respond to the pattern, whereby when the child speaks into the unit a specific word included in the dictionary identifying a particular object, the output of the unit is digitized and the computer then acts to scan the dictionary to find the corresponding phonetic sounds digitally stored therein, and when a match is found to present on the screen the letters which the specific word and the image of the object identified thereby; (b) an electronic library associated with the computer in which is digitally stored answers to commonly asked inquiries resulting from observation of images stored in said image library; and (c) wherein said voice recognition unit recognizes distinct words and the sequence pattern of the at least one audible inquiry, thereby prompting the computer to scan the electronic library to find at least one answer most closely related to the at least one audible inquiry and, when a match is found, presents said at least one answer to the child.