Patent Publication Number: US-2022221959-A1

Title: Annotations in software applications for invoking dialog system functions

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Currently, dialog systems are widely used in the information technology industry, especially in the form of mobile applications for cell phones and tablet computers. A dialog system can include a computer-based agent having a human-centric interface for accessing, processing, managing, and delivering information. Dialog systems are also known as chat information systems, spoken dialog systems, conversational agents, chatter robots, chatterbots, chatbots, chat agents, digital personal assistants, automated online assistants, and so forth. All these terms are within the scope of the present disclosure and referred to as a “Dialog System” for simplicity. 
     Traditionally, a dialog system interacts with its users in natural language to simulate an intelligent conversation and provide personalized assistance to the users. For example, a user may generate requests to the dialog system in the form of conversational questions, such as “What is the weather like in Palo Alto?” and receive corresponding answers from the dialog system in the form of audio and/or displayable messages. The users may also provide voice commands to the dialog system requesting the performance of certain functions including, for example, generating e-mails, making phone calls, searching particular information, acquiring data, navigating, requesting notifications or reminders, and so forth. These and other functionalities make dialog systems very popular as they are of great help, especially for holders of portable electronic devices such as smart phones, cellular phones, tablet computers, gaming consoles, and the like. 
     Although the demand for dialog systems for third party mobile applications and web services is constantly growing, it is not an easy task to create a well-operating dialog system. Each dialog system has a dialog system interface and dialog system engine. The dialog system interface is responsible for receiving user inputs and delivering dialog system responses to the user. The dialog system engine is responsible for transforming voice user inputs into text inputs, interpreting text inputs, and generating corresponding responses to text inputs. The process running on the dialog system engine is also known as natural language processing (NLP). Development of NLP models is not only time consuming, but is also a highly technical task. Accordingly, application developers may struggle to develop a dialog system for integrating its functionality with a mobile application or web service. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to simplify the process of creating, developing, and maintaining dialog systems for software applications and web services. 
     SUMMARY 
     This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     The present technology provides for an online platform configured to maintain Dialog System Engines that can process user requests acquired via software applications installed on user devices. The present technology also allows the software developers to annotate certain dialog system functions in a source code of their software applications in a separate development environment (i.e., without the need to code dialog system functions). The annotations and dialog descriptors, which are either built into or provided with software application code, when invoked, cause Dialog System Interfaces to implement desired dialog system functions with respect to certain user inputs and deliver dialog system responses to end users. This significantly simplifies the design process of software applications, thereby allowing the software developers to integrate one or more dialog system functions into software applications without dedicating time and resources for developing and maintaining dialog systems. This also allows obtaining a dialog support for software applications deployed in particular application environments. For example, iOS and Android applications can receive a dialog support defined in the application and enabled when the application is deployed on a device. 
     In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, software developers may insert annotations in the form of metadata within software source code during design time. Alternatively, developers can use pre-built annotations to insert annotations into compiled dialog definitions during design time. In yet more embodiments, annotations can be also uploaded or synchronized with an online platform. Further, the metadata is used later at load time to specify which dialog system functions will be implemented when the program runs, based on one or more criteria. In this way, the annotations allow deferring implementations of certain dialog system functions and building dialog systems when the actual software package is already created. 
     At runtime, the user device running the Dialog System Interface receives user requests. The user requests are used to identify and invoke annotations integrated into the code of software applications. The user device, through a particular Dialog System Interface, implements one or more dialog system functions based on invoked annotations and generates dialog system responses based on the annotations. 
     Provided is a method for expanding software application functionalities. The method may commence with receiving a user request within a software application. The software application may be enhanced with annotations. The annotations may include metadata. The method may further include sending the user request to a dialog system located on a remote device. The dialog system may send a dialog system response to the user request. Upon receiving the dialog system response, at least one of the annotations associated with the dialog system response may be identified. Based on the identification, a code may be invoked within the software application. The code may be associated with the identified annotation. 
     Additional objects, advantages, and novel features will be set forth in part in the detailed description, which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the example embodiments. The objects and advantages of the concepts may be realized and attained by means of the methodologies, instrumentalities, and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and, in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an environment within which systems and methods for expanding software application functionalities can be implemented, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing various modules of a dialog system engine, in accordance with certain embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a system for expanding software application functionalities, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating a method for expanding software application functionalities, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  shows a process flow diagram for a method of creating custom dialog system engines, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  shows the process of manual creating of entities for a dialog system rule, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG. 7  shows the process of manual creating of intents via the platform interface, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG. 8  shows an example rule for receiving a weather forecast, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG. 9  shows a process of testing dialog system elements by developers, in accordance with some example embodiments. 
         FIG. 10  is a high-level block diagram illustrating an example user device suitable for implementing the methods described herein. 
         FIG. 11  is a high-level block diagram illustrating an example system suitable for implementing the methods described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description includes references to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the detailed description. The drawings show illustrations in accordance with example embodiments. These example embodiments, which are also referred to herein as “examples,” are described in enough detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present subject matter. 
     The embodiments can be combined, other embodiments can be utilized, or structural, logical and operational changes can be made without departing from the scope of what is claimed. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 
     Present teachings may be implemented using a variety of technologies. For example, the methods described herein may be implemented in software executing on a computer system or in hardware utilizing either a combination of microprocessors or other specially designed application-specific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, or various combinations thereof. In particular, the methods described herein may be implemented by a series of computer-executable instructions residing on a transitory or non-transitory storage medium such as a disk drive or computer-readable medium. It should be noted that methods disclosed herein can be implemented by a computer (e.g., a desktop computer, tablet computer, laptop computer), game console, handheld gaming device, cellular phone, smart phone, smart television system, and so forth. 
     The term “software developer” or simply “developer” refers to one or more of the following: software developer, mobile application developer, application developer, software engineer, software owner, mobile application owner, software manager, mobile application manager, dialog system owner, and so forth. A developer develops and/or manages a Dialog System Engine, Dialog System Interface, and/or software applications. 
     The term “Dialog System” refers to one or more of the following: chat information system, spoken dialog system, conversational agent, chatter robot, chatterbot, chatbot, chat agent, digital personal assistant, automated online assistant, and so forth. Each Dialog System includes a “Dialog System Interface” and a “Dialog System Engine.” Each of these elements can be customized by the developer. 
     The term “Dialog System Interface” refers to a computer-human interface, which is configured to acquire user inputs in the form of audio messages or text messages, and deliver dialog system responses to the users in the form of audio messages or displayable messages. In one example, a Dialog System Interface may be implemented as a widget designed for or integrated with, a software application, mobile application, middleware application, firmware application, website, and web service, to provide a computer-human interface for acquiring user requests and delivering dialog system outputs to the users. In this disclosure, Dialog System Interfaces can be virtual, meaning that they include one or more annotations only. 
     The term “Dialog System Engine” refers to a software application configured to process user inputs and generate responses thereto. In one example, Dialog System Engine refers to a computer-enabled or processor-enabled system for supporting an associated Dialog System Interface by processing user requests and generating corresponding responses thereto. 
     The term “annotation” refers to syntactic metadata that can be added to the source code of a software application. Annotations can invoke implementation of certain dialog system functions by Dialog System Engines and/or Dialog System Interfaces at runtime. Annotations can include or be associated with one or more criteria, parameters, variables, classes, methods, and/or packages. Annotations can also include or be associated with one or more user inputs such as text inputs or speech inputs. In various embodiments, developers can add annotations in the form of dialog metadata to a source code of particular software applications. One example of annotations is Java annotations, although other means for other programming languages and platforms can be used. In yet other embodiments, annotations can include codes that define dialog system specific behaviors with a software application under development. 
     The present technology provides for a platform enabling creation of custom Dialog System Engines serving as backend services for Dialog System Interfaces. Dialog System Interfaces can be implemented at least as a part of various software applications, mobile applications, middleware applications, firmware applications, websites, web services, and so forth. In other words, Dialog System Interfaces are on a client side (in the user device or in a cloud or web service) and provide a computer-human interface configured to at least acquire user inputs and deliver dialog system outputs to the users. Dialog System Engines, on the other hand, support the Dialog System Interfaces by processing user inputs and generating corresponding responses thereto. Thus, a Dialog System Engine and Dialog System Interface, when interacting with each other, form a Dialog System. One may refer to a Dialog System Interface running on or accessed from a user device as a “frontend” user interface, while a Dialog System Engine, which supports the operation of such Dialog System Interface, can be referred to as a “backend” service. 
     The platform, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, allows software developers to create custom Dialog System Engines that will support frontend Dialog System Interfaces. For example, if a software developer wants to integrate Dialog System functionality into a mobile application as an additional feature, the developer can use the platform to create and deploy a custom Dialog System Engine and link it with or embed it into the mobile application. The mobile application, in turn, will have only a Dialog System Interface. In this example, the Dialog System Interface can be activated by a user when he interacts with the mobile application. The user can make inquiries to the Dialog System Interface in the form of voice inputs or text inputs. Upon receipt of a user inquiry, the Dialog System Interface can transfer the user inquiry with little or no pre-processing to the linked custom Dialog System Engine, which was previously created using the platform. The Dialog System Engine processes the received user inquiry, interprets it, and generates a response to the inquiry based on predetermined rules and settings. Predetermined rules and settings can be either defined by developers (i.e., they include specific dialog scenarios, entities, etc.), or built into the platform (e.g., provided via embeddable Software Development Kit (SDK) or a cloud solution). The response is then delivered to a mobile application for further visual or audio presentation to the user. In some embodiments, the response may include a response text to be delivered to the user and/or metadata with instructions for the user device to perform an action (e.g., open a browser, access certain data online, run a particular application, etc.). In some embodiments, the response may include data (e.g., in the case of a web service call). In other embodiments, the response may include a callback Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that the Dialog System Interface or user device needs to access to obtain a response text and/or metadata. 
     According to various embodiments of this disclosure, interaction between a Dialog System Interface and Dialog System Engines can be implemented with the help of annotations. Software developers can insert custom or predetermined annotations into a code of a software application such that, at runtime, the annotations invoke implementation of certain dialog system functions by Dialog System Engines. This may include transmittance of user inputs, various parameters, variables, metadata, and, optionally, other data by the software application to a Dialog System Engine. In response to an invoking request caused by an annotation, the Dialog System Engine processes the user input and optionally other data, generates a dialog system response, and delivers the same to the software application. Accordingly, software coding becomes a much easier task for software developers when the code is expanded by adding annotations invoking various dialog system functionalities. 
     The methods of this disclosure enable developers to specify dialog system elements in the form of annotations right in a code during a design phase, instead of defining the dialog system elements separately. This also allow deferring implementation of certain dialog system functions until the runtime of software applications by invoking annotations integrated into code of software applications. 
     The benefits of methods of this disclosure can be evident from the following example. Assume a software developer creates a new mobile application having an interface with a number of buttons, each of which implements certain functions. One of the buttons causes the activation of a built-in camera, makes a picture, and stores the same in a memory. This functionality can be specified in a software code using a programming language. If the developer needs to enable activation of the camera and making the picture in response to a user&#39;s speech input, such as “Shoot,” “Take a picture,” “Smile” (i.e., without pressing the button), the developer needs to code a dialog system procedure, which is a complex task to accomplish. The present technology allows the developers in these instances to introduce custom or predetermined annotations into a source code of software applications to invoke implementation of dialog system functions by certain Dialog System Interfaces. In the above example, the developer simply needs to insert a predetermined annotation, such as @CameraAction, into the software code to expand functionalities of the mobile application by adding the desired dialog system procedure. In this way, when the user of the mobile application says “Shoot,” “Take a picture,” “Smile,” or another predetermined word or phrase, it invokes the annotation to implement a particular Dialog System function. As a result of the processing, the Dialog System Engine generates a dialog system response in the form of at least one processor-implementable instruction that causes the user device to activate the camera, make a picture, and store the same in the memory. In some embodiments, annotations includes a full specification for an intent rather than a link to the intent or the intent&#39;s identifier such as “aCameraAction”. When an annotation includes the full specification, a conversational agent can be dynamically created for the mobile application. In other embodiments, annotations may include more complex dialog system definitions available in an online platform. For example, annotations can include, but are not limited to, system and developer-defined entities, dialog trees, and fulfillment routines. 
     In general, Dialog System Interfaces can be integrated or be an integral part of a wide range of software applications running on a user device, such as a personal computer (PC) or cellular phone, or on a server so that dialog systems become a part of a website or web service. Dialog System Engines can be implemented on a server such that their functionalities can be accessible to Dialog System Interfaces over the Internet, cellular networks, or any other communications means. 
       FIG. 1  shows a high-level block diagram of example system environment  100  suitable for practicing the present technologies. As shown on this figure, there is provided a platform  110  for creating and maintaining custom Dialog System Engines. For these ends, the platform  110  includes a platform interface  112  for creating custom Dialog System Engines and backend service  114  for maintaining and running custom Dialog System Engines  120 . 
     Platform interface  112  may include a graphical user interface (GUI) embedded into a webpage and accessible by application developers via the Internet. In other embodiments, however, platform interface  112  may be implemented as a software application such as a downloadable software application or any other software, middleware, or firmware running on or accessible from an electronic device such as a computer. In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , platform interface  112  is realized as a web accessible GUI, as will be described below. For simplicity, this disclosure is limited to such embodiments where platform interface  112  is a server-based solution so that it is accessible via the Internet. Regardless of a particular implementation, platform interface  112  enables the developers, through a number of GUI tools, to create one or more custom Dialog System Engines  120 . 
     Still referencing  FIG. 1 , backend service  114  is responsible for maintaining and running custom Dialog System Engines  120  that are created, for example, by or with the help of platform interface  112 . Backend service  114  may operate as a web service providing functionality to custom Dialog Systems by enabling Dialog System Interfaces  130  to interact with custom Dialog System Engines  120  maintained at backend service  114  of platform  110 . 
     As discussed above, Dialog System Interfaces  130  can be provided on a client side  140 . Dialog System Interfaces  130  may be as simple as a GUI enabling users to make inquiries, which are then delivered to backend service  114  for processing by corresponding Dialog System Engines  120 , and to receive responses to the inquires generated by Dialog System Engines  120 . Dialog System Interfaces  130  may be implemented at least as a part of a software application, mobile application, middleware application, or firmware application, web service, website, and so forth. In various embodiments, Dialog System Interfaces  130  include one or more annotations integrated into software code. 
     Still referencing  FIG. 1 , client side  140  may refer to, but is not limited to, a user device, terminal, computing device (e.g., laptop computer, tablet computer, desktop computer), cellular phone, smart phone, gaming console, remote control, multimedia system, smart television device, set-top box, infotainment system, in-vehicle computing device, informational kiosk, robot, and so forth. In these embodiments, Dialog System Interfaces  130  are a part of software, middleware, or firmware installed on such devices. 
     In additional embodiments, client side  140  may refer to a networked or online solution such as a server, hosting service, web service, web site, cloud service, and so forth. For example, Dialog System Interface  130  can be a widget or GUI provided on one or more web pages enabling end users to make inquiries and get responses thereto. This option is suitable for those instances when a developer, for example, wants to integrate a Dialog System into a website to provide enhanced customer service. 
     As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the interaction between Dialog System Interfaces  130  and corresponding Dialog System Engines  120  is performed via a communications network  150 . Communications network  150  may include one or more of the Internet, intranet, cellular network, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), IEEE 802.11 based network, and so forth. 
       FIG. 1  also shows various third party web resources/services  160  provided via one or more web servers. These third party web resources/services  160  can provide information of various types to Dialog System Engines  120  or Dialog System Interfaces  130  as part of a response to a user request. For example, web resources/services  160  may refer to email services, weather services, navigation services, and the like. Accordingly, if a user makes the inquiry “What is the weather like today?,” such information may be automatically acquired by Dialog System Engine  120  from one or more third party web resources/services  160  and then integrated into a dialog system response to be delivered to the end user. 
       FIG. 2  shows a high-level architecture  200  of an exemplary Dialog System Engine  120 , according to an example embodiment. It should be noted that each module of Dialog System Engine  120  or associated architecture includes hardware components, software components, or a combination thereof. Dialog System Engine  120  may be embedded or installed in a user device or server, or may be presented as a cloud computing module and/or a distributed computing module. 
     In the embodiment shown, Dialog System Engine  120  includes an Automatic Speech Recognizer (ASR)  210  configured to receive and process speech-based user inputs into a sequence of parameter vectors. ASR  210  further converts the sequence of parameter vectors into a recognized input (i.e., a textual input having one or more words, phrases, or sentences). ASR  210  includes one or more speech recognizers such as a pattern-based speech recognizer, free-dictation recognizer, address book based recognizer, dynamically created recognizer, and so forth. 
     Further, Dialog System Engine  120  includes NLP module  220  for understanding spoken language input. Specifically, NLP module  220  may disassemble and parse the recognized input to produce utterances, which are then analyzed utilizing, for example, morphological analysis, part-of-speech tagging, shallow parsing, and the like. NLP module  220  may then map recognized input or its parts to meaning representations. 
     Dialog System Engine  120  further includes dialog manager  230 , which coordinates the activity of all components, controls dialog flows, and communicates with external applications, devices, services, or resources. Dialog manager  230  may play many roles, which include discourse analysis, knowledge database query, and system action prediction, based on the discourse context. In some embodiments, dialog manager  230  may contact one or more task managers (not shown) that may have knowledge of specific task domains. In some embodiments, dialog manager  230  may communicate with various computing, logic, or storage resources  240 , which may include, for example, a content storage, rules database, recommendation database, push notification database, electronic address book, email or text agents, dialog history database, disparate knowledge databases, map database, points of interest database, geographical location determiner, clock, wireless network detector, search engines, social networking websites, blogging websites, news feeds services, and many more. In some embodiments, computational or storage resources  240  include one or more web resources/services  160  discussed above. 
     Dialog manager  230  may employ multiple disparate approaches to generate outputs in response to recognized inputs. Some approaches include the use of statistical analysis, machine-learning algorithms (e.g., neural networks), heuristic analysis, and so forth. Dialog manager  230  is one of the central components of Dialog System Engine  120 . The major role of dialog manager  230  is to select the correct system actions based on observed evidences and inferred dialog states from the results of NLP (e.g., dialog act, user goal, and discourse history). In addition, dialog manager  230  should be able to handle errors when the user input has ASR and NLP errors caused by noises or unexpected inputs. 
     Dialog System Engine  120  may further include output renderer  250  for transforming the output of dialog manager  230  into a form suitable for providing to the user. For example, output renderer  250  may employ a text-to-speech engine or may contact a pre-recorded audio database to generate an audio message corresponding to the output of dialog manager  230 . In certain embodiments, output renderer  250  may present or cause to present the output of dialog manager  230  as a text message, an image, or a video message for further displaying on a display screen of the user device. In some example embodiments, output renderer  250  can constitute at least a part of Dialog System Interface  130 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 2 , Dialog System Engine  120  includes one or more dialog system rules maintained in at least one rule database  260 . Dialog System Engine  120  may also include or be associated with one or more context databases  270 , which maintain a plurality of context description elements such as lists of terms, keywords, phrases, expressions, context variables, and context parameters (e.g., geolocation, system rate, GUI, etc.) associated with one or more dialog system rules. In other words, context databases  270  include information supporting the process of determining conversational or environmental context for particular user requests. 
     Dialog System Engine  120  may also include or be associated with one or more statistics and usage databases  280 , which are configured to aggregate statistical or usage information associated with the operation of Dialog System Engine  120  and/or associated Dialog System Interface  130  and/or associated mobile or software application. For example, statistics and usage database  280  may accumulate dialog system logs, which can be later used for optimization of dialog system rules, dialog system responding schemes, training machine-learning algorithms if employed by Dialog System Engine, and so forth. 
     The process of creating and operating custom Dialog System Engines  120  will now be described with reference to  FIG. 1  and other drawings. In particular, platform interface  112  provides one or more GUIs having a number of tools enabling developers to create and customize one or more dialog system elements, which serve as a basis for a custom Dialog System Engine. 
     According to various embodiments, dialog system elements include “entities” and “intents.” Each entity may refer to a number of objects having the same or similar characteristics. In other words, entities are lists of terms and/or keywords defining objects of one class. In one example, an entity may refer to a keyword and a set of its synonyms. In another example, an entity may refer to a keyword and a set of its definitions. In yet another example, an entity may refer to a list (e.g., a list of cities, list of names, list of titles, list of brands, list of street names, etc.). 
     In some embodiments, each entity can have a title. For example, one entity can be titled as “city” and it will contain a list of cities such as Arlington, Boston, Chicago, and so forth. In other embodiments, an entity can be titled as a keyword and it can contain synonyms and/or definitions of this keyword. In one example, the entity called “music” may include the terms of song, singer, singing, musician, and so forth. In another example, the entity called “artist” may include a list of music bands, music ensembles, or music artists. In another example, the entity called “Beatles” may include a list of possible synonyms, such as “The Beatles,” “Beatles,” “Fab Four,” “Liverpool Legends,” “John Lennon,” and so forth. In yet another example, there can be an entity called “Artist” which may include various artist names, artist name synonyms, music band names, and so forth. 
     In some embodiments, Dialog System Engines may include a number of default, pre-configured entities and/or intents. These can include common types of entities or intents related to such concepts as time, date, location, and the like. For example, when a developer creates a new Dialog System Engine, it may already have a few entities of common types such as a “@System.Date” entity. This entity covers linguistic constructs related to particular dates and may include the following terms: “today,” “tomorrow,” “next week,” “January 1,” “January 1 of next year,” “next Monday,” “the following Monday,” and so forth. 
     Further, each intent of a Dialog System Rule includes a dialog system interaction scheme, which provides a particular relation between at least one user request and at least one dialog system linguistic response or fulfilment response. The dialog system interaction scheme can be represented by a rule based on a relationship between a particular action and at least one entity. Actions generally relate to formalized software objects such as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) objects causing at least one processor to generate linguistic or fulfilment responses associated with at least one entity. Accordingly, each intent can be represented as a logical relation between at least one action and at least one entity object, for example, as follows:
         a) [Action]@[Entity]   b) [Action]@[Entities]   c) [Actions]@[Entity]   d) [Actions]@[Entities]   e) Text@[Entity]   f) Text@[Entities]   g) Text@[Entity] Text   h) [Action] Text@[Entity]       

     The procedures e) through h) mean that particular information in the form of text is provided with respect to a particular Entity. For example, the user request “Create a meeting with John at 1 p.m. tomorrow, please” may be presented as the following pattern: create a meeting @sys.any:subject @sys.date-time. Here, @sys.any:subject refers to an entity associated with a particular name, @sys.date-time refers to an entity associated with time and date, and the phrase “Create a meeting” refers to a predetermined action to be performed by Dialog System Interface or Dialog System Engine with a certain mobile application, software application, or web service. 
     The procedures e) through h) mean that particular information in the form of text is provided with respect to a particular Entity. For example, the user request “Create a meeting with John at 1 p.m. tomorrow, please” may be presented as the following pattern: [Action] Text@[sys.date-time] Text. Here, @[sys.date-time] refers to an entity associated with time and date, while the phrase “Create a meeting” refers to a predetermined action to be performed by Dialog System Interface  130  or Dialog System Engine  120  with a certain mobile application, software application, or web service. Element “Text” refers to content and not entity nor intent. 
     As mentioned above, a dialog system rule causes generation of a linguistic response and/or fulfilment response as an answer to a user request. One example of a linguistic response may include particularized content deliverable as an audio message or displayable message. Fulfilment responses refer to particular processor-executable instructions for one or more software applications, middleware, firmware, web services, and the like that cause implementation of a particular action. Some examples of fulfilment responses may include scheduling an event in a calendar mobile application, writing and sending a text message or email, searching for content at a web search service, building a route in a navigational software application, and so forth. In certain embodiments, at least some linguistic responses and/or fulfilment responses can be configured by developers. In other embodiments, at least some linguistic responses and/or fulfilment responses can be pre-configured and be available as default responses. 
     In certain additional embodiments, developers can provide example requests to illustrate intents and entities instead of providing “entities” and “intents.” In these embodiments, platform  110  automatically determines, using machine-learning techniques, what “entities” and “intents” are implied in example user requests and creates corresponding rules. For example, a developer may simply provide example requests, such as “Play Beatles” and “I&#39;d like to listen to Madonna,” and platform  110  will match “Beatles” and “Madonna” to existing entities (system&#39;s or user&#39;s) and generate corresponding “[Action] @[Entity]” rules automatically. 
     Thus, developers can use platform interface  112  to generate a plurality of dialog system rules specific to a particular application or industry. These pluralities of entities and intents form dialog system rules (also referred to as dialog system elements) and enable custom Dialog System Engines to perform certain actions or generate certain outputs in response to a wide range of end user inputs. 
       FIG. 3  is a system  300  for expanding software application functionalities. Specifically, the system  300  may include a processor  302  and a database  304  in communication with the processor  302 . The database  304  may include computer-readable instructions for execution by the processor  302 . 
     The processor may be operable to receive a user request within a software application. In an example embodiment, the software application is associated with a user device. The software application may be enhanced with annotations that may include metadata. The enhancing of the software application with annotations may include integrating the annotations into a code associated with the software application. In example embodiments, the annotations may be pre-built annotations, annotations uploaded from a remote resource, annotations synchronized with an online resource, and so forth. Optionally, in an example embodiment, the processor  302  may be operable to load the metadata from the annotations to the dialog system. Therefore, the dialog system may include metadata of all annotations, by which the software application associated with the user device is enhanced. Upon receipt of the user request, the processor  302  may send at least a part of the user request to a dialog system located on a remote device. 
     The processor  302  may be further operable to receive a dialog system response to the user request from the dialog system. In an example embodiment, the dialog system response may include one or more of a displayable message, an audio message, an incentive for the user to provide a further user request, an instruction for the software application to perform a predetermined function, and so forth. The dialog system response may include a callback URL to be accessed by the software application to obtain a text of the dialog system response or at least one of the annotations associated with the dialog system response. 
     Upon receipt of the dialog system response, the processor  302  may identify at least one of the annotations associated with the dialog system response to obtain an identified annotation. Based on the identification, the processor  302  may invoke a code within the software application. The code may be associated with the identified annotation. In an example embodiment, the code may include an instruction for one or more of the following: a further software application associated with the user device, a server, a hosting service, a web service, a web site, and a cloud service. 
       FIG. 4  is a process flow diagram showing method  400  for expanding software application functionalities at runtime, according to an example embodiment. The method may be performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., decision-making logic, dedicated logic, programmable logic, and microcode), software (such as software run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of both. In one example embodiment, the processing logic refers to one or more components of a platform for creating and maintaining custom Dialog System Engines. Notably, the below recited steps of method  400  may be implemented in an order different than described and shown in  FIG. 4 . Moreover, method  400  may have additional steps not shown herein, but which can be evident for those skilled in the art from the present disclosure. Method  400  may also have fewer steps than outlined below and shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     Method  400  commences at operation  410  with a user device receiving a user input within a software application running on the user device. As discussed above, the software application is enhanced with one or more annotations, which include metadata linking certain functions of the dialog system with functions of the software application. In general, the annotations can be used for various purposes. First, the annotations can define types of requests that the software application should or could handle by voice or text. More specifically, the annotations may define at least a type of the user request and the user request may be processed by the dialog system based on the type of the user request. In this example, the annotations can define entities, intents, and/or actions. Second, the annotations can define fulfilment of intents. In this example, the annotations could define code within the software application that needs to be invoked when an action is triggered within the dialog system. Third, the annotations can define runtime information and user specific information that may be propagated to the dialog system and used in matching. 
     At operation  420 , during runtime of the software application, the user device optionally loads information from one or more annotations to the Dialog System employed on the platform (e.g., information is loaded to the Dialog System Engine). The loaded information may include metadata concerning intents, entities, actions, contexts, and/or fulfillments indicating which of the action should be taken when the intent is executed. In some embodiments, the loaded information may include certain variables, parameters, and other data that can be involved in processing by a dialog system of the user request. 
     At operation  430 , the user device transmits the user request to the platform (i.e., to the Dialog System Engine). 
     At operation  440 , the user device receives a dialog system response to the user request from the Dialog System Engine. The dialog system response can include a displayable or audio message, or an instruction causing the user device to perform a certain action. 
     At operation  450 , the user device identifies at least one of the annotations associated with the dialog system response (i.e., triggered intent and action). 
     At operation  460 , the user device invokes a code within the software application, which code is associated with the identified annotation. 
     In some embodiments, method  400  can be used for compilation of a dialog agent during design time and loading of the compiled dialog definition to the dialog system. Alternatively, method  400  can be used for compilation for embedded use only. In other words, the software application could define a dialog interface. When the software application is built, dialog definitions will be compiled and embedded into this application. The software application could run the dialog interface with no connection to the dialog system (i.e., in a completely embedded mode). 
       FIG. 5  is a process flow diagram showing method  500  for creating custom Dialog System Engines using platform  110  and for operating platform  110 , according to an example embodiment. The method may be performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., decision-making logic, dedicated logic, programmable logic, and microcode), software (such as software run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of both. In one example embodiment, the processing logic refers to one or more components of platform  110 . Notably, the below recited steps of method  500  may be implemented in an order different than described and shown in  FIG. 5 . Moreover, method  500  may have additional steps not shown herein, but which can be evident for those skilled in the art from the present disclosure. Method  500  may also have fewer steps than outlined below and shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     At operation  505 , a developer registers with platform  110 . For these ends, the developer shall interact with platform interface  112 . The registration may include creating a developer profile, which can be maintained by platform  110 . The developer profile may link (associate) a custom Dialog System Engine  120  of this developer and one or more Dialog System Interfaces  130  deployed on the client side. More specifically, a developer profile may include multiple agents (such as custom dialog system engines) and each of them could be integrated into a client application with the help of SDK. Accordingly, there can be multiple end-points for user input (Dialog System Interfaces). The communication between Dialog System Engines  120  and Dialog System Interfaces  130  may include Application Programming Interface (API) codes, rules for interaction, destination addresses, and many more. 
     At optional operation  510 , platform  110  receives from the developer one or more entities and stores the same in a local database. In some embodiments, the entities are not received, but created by the developer using web tools of platform interface  112 . In yet other embodiments, entities are not created or received at all and, therefore, some dialog system engines, or dialog system engine rules may not have any entities. 
     At operation  515 , platform  110  receives from the developer one or more intents and stores the same at the local database. In some embodiments, the intents are not received, but created by the developer using tools of platform interface  112 . As described above, the intents are associated with the entities, and together they form dialog system elements (custom rules enabling Dialog System Engine  120  to generate responses tailored for specific needs). 
     At operation  520 , platform  110  associates one or more entities with one or more intents to create (form) custom Dialog System Engine  120 . Dialog System Engine  120  is associated with one or more Dialog System Interfaces  130  of the developer. 
     Operations  505 - 520  illustrate a set-up process for the custom Dialog System Engine  120 , while the following operations  525 - 545  illustrate the operation of custom Dialog System Engine  120 .  FIGS. 6-9  illustrate various screenshots of platform interface  112 , which show the process of manually creating entities (see  FIG. 6 ), manually creating intents (see  FIGS. 7, 8 ), and a test console for testing dialog system elements (see  FIG. 9 ) by developers. 
     Once all dialog system elements of custom Dialog System Engine  120  are created, they are maintained as a backend service and enable any of the associated Dialog System Interfaces  130  to provide the full functionality of the Dialog System to users according to predetermined settings. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 5 , at operation  525 , platform  110  receives a user request from an unidentified Dialog System Interface  130 . The user request can be a voice input or text input. In some embodiments, Dialog System Interface  130  can pre-process the user input, for example, by recognizing spoken words and transforming the voice input into text input. In other embodiments, however, no pre-processing is performed by Dialog System Interface  130 . 
     At operation  530 , platform  110  processes the user request and identifies Dialog System Interface  130 . For these ends, the user request can be accompanied by an identifier (ID) at the time the user request is sent from Dialog System Interface  130  to platform  110 . Generally, identifiers here may refer to (a) a user ID, which can be used to retrieve a developer&#39;s or end-user&#39;s profile; (b) a session ID, which can be used to retrieve current dialog context between the given end user and the Dialog System Engine; and (c) a set of keys/agents (i.e., custom dialog system IDs), which can be used to identify entities, intents, and other data associated with the user request. 
     At operation  535 , based on the result of the identification at operation  530 , platform  110  activates Dialog System Engine  120  associated with identified Dialog System Interface  130 . At the same operation, platform  110  may also retrieve or identify one or more dialog system elements (i.e., one or more entities and one or more intents) based on the result of the identification at operation  530 . 
     At operation  540 , Dialog System Engine  120  processes the user request using identified dialog system elements (i.e., one or more entities and one or more intents) as retrieved at operation  535 . Some examples of dialog system processing are further described with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
     At operation  545 , Dialog System Engine  120  generates a response and sends it to Dialog System Interface  130  associated with Dialog System Engine  120 . Dialog System Interface  130  then displays and/or playbacks the response to the end user depending on predetermined settings. 
       FIGS. 6-9  illustrate various screenshots of platform interface  112  illustrating creating of dialog system rules. 
       FIG. 6  shows the process  600  of manual creating of entities via the platform interface  112 . In one example, one set of entities may include definitions of geographical locations including city names such as “Atlanta,” “Belfast,” “Boston,” “Chicago,” “Detroit,” and so forth. In another example, another set of entities may include time definitions such as “today,” “tomorrow,” “next week,” “next Monday,” “October 1,” and the like. It shall be clear that the context database  270  may include multiple sets of entities each related to various activities. 
     As illustrated, the entity related to city may be associated with multiple values, for example New York, Washington, Paris, and so forth. Each of the values may include a list of synonyms  610  and a singular reference value/canonical value  620 . A developer can manage (add, edit, delete) the values of an entity and the list of synonyms  610  for each value. 
       FIG. 7  shows the process  700  of manual creating of intents for a dialog system rule. Intents can be provided as multiple sets of linguistic elements such as words or phrases associated with particular actions. Some examples of intents associated with the action of playing multimedia content may include “Play,” “Start playback,” “Activate playing,” “Open,” and so forth. Additionally, the context database  270  may also store multiple context words or phrases, such as “what about,” “and how is it in,” “and the same in,” “and what about,” and so forth, all associated with a particular dialog system rule. These context phrases can facilitate interpretation of user inputs. In some embodiments, the context database  270  may also store pre-built lexical data including, but not limited to, synonyms (words, phrases). In yet more embodiments, the context database  270  may also include pre-built knowledge databases such as WordNet or the like. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an intent including a multitude of user expressions  710  identified automatically from exemplary phrases or specified by a developer, for example, by adding a new user expression using an Add control  720 . On fulfillment  730  of the rule associated with the intent, the system may provide a speech string of call a web service. Additionally, a developer can test the rule execution using an always-on test console  740  by entering a test phrase. 
       FIG. 8  shows an example rule  800  for receiving a weather forecast. As illustrated, the rule  800  includes multiple user expressions  810  that can be used by the user to request a weather forecast, for example, “what is the weather in,” “weather forecast for,” and so forth. Entities, such as city or date, in user expressions can be provided using an alias  820  (or placeholder). Aliases can be referenced in action  830  and in fulfillment  840  section. A developer can manage user expressions  810 , actions  830 , and fulfillment  840  parameters. 
     New dialog system rules including intents and entities are stored in the rule database  260 . One way to create new dialog system rules is a manual input of intents and entities, including specification of references to entities within intents. However, this approach may not be effective in certain instances and may have some disadvantages. For example, it can be very time consuming for developers to specify various natural language inputs to cover the wide range of inputs in which a certain user request can be made. The present technology addresses this problem by platform  110  automatically creating dialog system rules in response to receiving exemplary user requests from developers and/or analyzing requests from multiple dialog system users. Embodiments of this disclosure provide for context database  270  to be automatically populated with certain additional terms, keywords, phrases, and/or expressions using machine-learning and/or pattern recognition techniques when developers input exemplary user requests that potentially can be used by end users in the course of interaction with dialog system. 
     For example, developers may provide exemplary phrases such as “What is the weather like in New York,” “What is the current temperature in Las Vegas,” “What is the forecast for Washington D.C.,” “How it is in Moscow,” “Do I need my umbrella tomorrow,” and so forth. These and other exemplary phrases can be provided via platform interface  112  and/or during the interaction of developer or end user with dialog system engines  120 . 
       FIG. 9  shows a process  900  of testing dialog system elements by developers. To test a rule, a developer can enter a test phrase in the test console. The test phrase may be processed  910  by the system to identify entities and intent in the test phrase. The result of the processing can be provided to the developer for review. Based on the processing, action associated with the intent may be provided as a response to the test phrase with reference values of the entities passed as a parameter  920 . The developer can modify the intent according to the test results. 
     Once all dialog system elements of dialog system engine  120  are created, they can be maintained as a backend service and enable any of the associated dialog system interfaces  130  to provide the full functionality of the dialog system to users according to predetermined settings. 
       FIG. 10  is a high-level block diagram illustrating an example user device  1000  suitable for implementing the methods described herein. It is worth mentioning that all components of the user device may include logic elements, hardware components, software (firmware) components, virtual components, or a combination thereof. 
     User device  1000  includes at least an integral part of one or more of a variety of types of devices and systems such as a general-purpose computer, desktop computer, server, computer network, network service, cloud-computing service, and so forth. Further, all modules shown in  FIG. 10  may be operatively coupled using any suitable wired, wireless, radio, electrical, or optical standards. As already outlined above, user device  1000  may refer to a smart phone, wireless telephone, computer, such as a tablet computer or desktop computer, infotainment system, in-vehicle computing device, and the like. 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , user device  1000  includes the following hardware components: one or more processors  1002 , memory  1004 , one or more storage devices  1006 , one or more input modules  1008 , one or more output modules  1010 , network interface  1012 , and optional geo location determiner  1014 . User device  1000  also includes the following software or virtual components: an operating system  1020 , one or more software (mobile) applications  1030 , and Dialog System Interface  130 , which can be a stand-alone software application or be integrated into one or more software applications  1030 . Dialog System Interface  130  may provide a human-centric interface for accessing and managing information as discussed herein, communicating with Dialog System Engine  120 , and communicating with web resources/services  160 . According to various embodiments, Dialog System Interface  130  can be virtual, meaning it includes annotations integrated into a code of software applications  1030 . 
     Processors  1002  are configured to implement functionality and/or process instructions for execution within user device  1000 . For example, the processors  1002  may process instructions stored in memory  1004  and/or instructions stored on storage devices  1006 . Such instructions may include components of an operating system  1020  and software applications  1030 . The user device  1000  may also include one or more additional components not shown in  FIG. 10 , such as a housing, power supply, communication bus, and the like. These elements are omitted so as to not burden the description of present embodiments. 
     Memory  1004 , according to one example embodiment, is configured to store information within the user device  1000  during operation. Memory  1004  may refer to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or a computer-readable storage device. In some examples, memory  1004  is a temporary memory, meaning that a primary purpose of memory  1004  may not be long-term storage. Memory  1004  may also refer to a volatile memory, meaning that memory  1004  does not maintain stored contents when memory  1004  is not receiving power. Examples of volatile memories include RAM, DRAM, SRAM, and other forms of volatile memories known in the art. In some examples, memory  1004  is used to store program instructions for execution by the processors  1002 . Memory  1004 , in one example embodiment, is used by software (e.g., the operating system  1020 ) or Dialog System Interface  130  executing on user device  1000  to temporarily store information during program execution. One or more storage devices  1006  can also include one or more transitory or non-transitory computer-readable storage media and/or computer-readable storage devices. In some embodiments, storage devices  1006  may be configured to store greater amounts of information than memory  1004 . Storage devices  1006  may further be configured for long-term storage of information. In some examples, storage devices  1006  include non-volatile storage elements. Examples of such non-volatile storage elements include magnetic hard discs, optical discs, solid-state discs, flash memories, forms of electrically programmable memories (EPROM) or electrically erasable and programmable memories (EEPROM), and other forms of non-volatile memories known in the art. 
     Still referencing to  FIG. 10 , user device  1000  includes one or more input modules  1008 . The input modules  1008  are configured to receive user inputs. Examples of input modules  1008  include a microphone, keyboard, keypad, mouse, trackball, touchscreen, touchpad, or any other device capable of detecting an input from a user or other source in the form of speech, audio, or tactile actions, and relaying the input to the user device  1000  or components thereof. 
     Output modules  1010 , in some example embodiments, are configured to provide output to users through visual or auditory channels. Output modules  1010  may include a video graphics adapter card, liquid crystal display monitor, light emitting diode monitor, sound card, speaker, or any other device capable of generating output that may be intelligible to a user. 
     User device  1000 , in some embodiments, includes network interface  1012 . Network interface  1012  can be utilized to communicate with external devices, servers, and networked systems via one or more communications networks such as one or more wired, wireless, or optical networks including, for example, the Internet, intranet, LAN, WAN, cellular phone networks (e.g., GSM communications network, packet switching communications network, circuit switching communications network), Bluetooth radio, and an IEEE 802.11-based radio frequency network, among others. Network interface  1012  may be a network interface card, such as an Ethernet card, optical transceiver, radio frequency transceiver, or any other type of device that can send and receive information. Other examples of such network interfaces may include Bluetooth®, 3G, 4G, and WiFi® radios in mobile computing devices as well as Universal Serial Bus (USB). 
     User device  1000  may further include optional geo location determiner  1014  for determining a current geographical location of the user device. Geo location determiner  1014  may utilize a number of different methods for determining geographical location including, for example, receiving and processing signals of Global Positioning Systems, GLONASS satellite navigation systems, or the Galileo satellite navigation system; utilizing multilateration of radio signals between radio towers (base stations); or utilizing geolocation methods associated with Internet Protocol addresses, Media Access Control addresses, Radio-Frequency Identification, or other technologies. 
     Operating system  1020  may control one or more functionalities of user device  1000  or components thereof. For example, operating system  1020  may interact with Dialog System Interface  130  and may further facilitate one or more interactions between software applications  1030  and one or more of processors  1002 , memory  1004 , storage devices  1006 , input modules  1008 , and output modules  1010 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , operating system  1020  may interact with or be otherwise coupled to software applications  1030 , Dialog System Interface  130 , and components thereof. In some embodiments, Dialog System Interface  130  can be included into the operating system  1020  and/or software applications  1030 . Notably, user device  1000  and its components such as the Dialog System Interface  130 , may also interact with one or more remote storage or computing resources including, for example, web resources, websites, social networking websites, blogging websites, news feeds, email servers, web calendars, event databases, ticket aggregators, map databases, points of interest databases, and so forth. 
       FIG. 11  is a high-level block diagram illustrating an example system  1100  suitable for implementing the methods described herein. In particular, system  1100  is a server-based solution suitable for running platform  110 . 
     Note that all components of system  1100  include logic elements, hardware components, software (firmware) components, virtual components, or a combination thereof. System  1100  may include, relate, or constitute an integral part of one or more of a variety of types of devices and systems such as a general-purpose computer, server, web server, network service, cloud-computing service, and so forth. Further, all modules shown in  FIG. 11  may be operatively coupled using any suitable wired, wireless, radio, electrical, or optical standards. 
     As shown in  FIG. 11 , system  1100  includes the following hardware components: one or more processors  1102 , memory  1104 , one or more storage devices  1106 , and network interface  1108 . System  1100  also includes the following software or virtual components: operating system  1110 , one or more software applications  1120 , and developer interface  1130  such as platform interface  112 . The developer interface  1130  may provide a human-centric interface for accessing and managing information as discussed herein. 
     In some embodiments, processors  1102  are configured to implement functionality and/or process instructions for execution within the system  1100 . For example, processors  1102  may process instructions stored in memory  1104  and/or instructions stored on storage devices  1106 . Such instructions may include components of operating system  1110 , software applications  1120 , and/or developer interface  1130 . 
     Memory  1104 , according to one example embodiment, is configured to store information within system  1100  during operation. Memory  1104 , in some example embodiments, may refer to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or a computer-readable storage device. In some examples, memory  1104  is a temporary memory, meaning that a primary purpose of memory  1104  may not be long-term storage. Memory  1104  may also refer to a volatile memory, meaning that memory  1104  does not maintain stored contents when memory  1104  is not receiving power. Examples of volatile memories include RAM, DRAM, SRAM, and other forms of volatile memories known in the art. In some examples, memory  1104  is used to store program instructions for execution by the processors  1102 . Memory  1104 , in one example embodiment, is used to temporarily store information during program execution. 
     One or more storage devices  1106  can also include one or more transitory or non-transitory computer-readable storage media and/or computer-readable storage devices. In some embodiments, storage devices  1106  may be configured to store greater amounts of information than memory  1104 . Storage devices  1106  may further be configured for long-term storage of information. In some examples, the storage devices  1106  include non-volatile storage elements. Examples of such non-volatile storage elements include magnetic hard discs, optical discs, solid-state discs, flash memories, forms of EPROM or EEPROM, and other forms of non-volatile memories known in the art. In one example, one or more storage devices  1106  can include the databases  260 ,  270 ,  280  on  FIG. 2 . In other embodiments, one or more storage devices  1106  can store and maintain user profiles and custom Dialog System Engines  120 . 
     Still referencing to  FIG. 11 , system  1100  includes network interface  1108 . Network interface  1108  can be utilized to communicate with external devices, servers, and networked systems via one or more communications networks such as one or more wired, wireless, or optical networks including, for example, the Internet, intranet, LAN, WAN, cellular phone networks (e.g. GSM communications network, packet switching communications network, circuit switching communications network), Bluetooth radio, and an IEEE 802.11-based radio frequency network, among others. Network interface  1108  may be a network interface card, such as an Ethernet card, optical transceiver, radio frequency transceiver, or any other type of device that can send and receive information. Other examples of such network interfaces may include Bluetooth®, 3G, 4G, and WiFi® radios in mobile computing devices as well as USB. 
     Operating system  1110  may control one or more functionalities of system  1100  or components thereof. For example, operating system  1110  may interact with the developer interface  1130 , and may further facilitate one or more interactions between software applications  1120  and one or more of processors  1102 , memory  1104 , storage devices  1106 , and/or network interface  1108 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , operating system  1110  may interact with or be otherwise coupled to the developer interface  1130  and components thereof. Notably, system  1100  and its components may also interact with one or more remote storage or computing resources (such as those shown on  FIG. 1  as web resources/services  160 ) including, for example, web resources, websites, social networking websites, blogging websites, news feeds, email servers, web calendars, event databases, ticket aggregators, map databases, points of interest databases, and so forth. Software applications  1120 , in essence, may provide functionality to platform  110  and enable its operation. Alternatively, software applications may be additions to platform  110 . 
     Thus, methods and systems for expanding software application functions by adding annotations to software code have been described. Although embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes can be made to these example embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present application. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.