Patent Publication Number: US-2019172240-A1

Title: Facial animation for social virtual reality (vr)

Description:
FIELD 
     The application relates generally to creating 3D facial animation for social VR applications. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Apple Siri®, Microsoft Cortana®, Google Assistant™, Amazon Alexa™ and Line Corporation Clova™ are examples of digital assistants that instantiate “chatbots” to audibly respond to spoken queries from people to return answers to the queries. The term “chatbot or bot” as used herein refers to a program (or the entire system including it) that performs dialogue communication on behalf of humans. A dialogue may be a combination of an utterance (such as a query) from a person and a response from the chatbot to the utterance. 
     SUMMARY 
     As understood herein, current digital assistants can be augmented by visibly showing a graphic of a chatbot character as it speaks, moving its lip in concert with the spoken answer to a query. 
     Accordingly, a device includes at least one computer memory that is not a transitory signal and that in turn includes instructions executable by at least one processor to receive an utterance from a person, and access a data structure based on the utterance to retrieve a response to the utterance. The instructions are executable to display the response. The instructions are further executable to, based at least in part on the response, generate a sequence of visemes and animate lips of an avatar presented on a display in synchronization with displaying the response. 
     In an example, the response is audibly displayed. To this end, the device can include at least one speaker for playing the response. The device may further include at least one display for presenting the avatar. 
     In some examples, the utterance includes at least a wakeup word and a skill name, and the instructions are executable to, responsive to the skill name, access a cloud-based service to return the response. The instructions are further executable to animate the lips of the avatar in synchronization with playing the response. In further detailed embodiments, the utterance can include a desired skill response, and the instructions can be executable to send the desired skill response to a data structure to receive a modification of the desired skill response therefrom. The modification of the desired skill response is played, e.g., on the speaker. In a specific example the desired skill response is in a first language and the modification of the desired skill response is in a second language different from the first language. 
     In another aspect, a computer-implemented digital assistant (DA) includes at least one microphone, at least one processor configured to receive input from the at least one microphone, and at least one speaker configured to play audio under control of the at least one processor. The DA further includes at least one display configured to present demanded images under control of the at least one processor. The processor is configured with executable instructions to execute a chatbot module that receives at least one utterance into the microphone from at least one person, accesses at least one data source to retrieve a response therefrom to the utterance, and play the response on the speaker. The instructions are executable to animate lips of an avatar presented on the display in synchrony with playing the response on the speaker. 
     In another aspect, a method includes using a digital assistant to receive a query, retrieve a response to the query, and play the response on a speaker. The method also includes using the digital assistant to derive at least one viseme from the response and animate an avatar using the viseme in synchrony with playing the response on the speaker. 
     The details of the present application, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an example system including an example in accordance with present principles; 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic diagram of a vehicle (such as a driverless vehicle) embodiment; 
         FIG. 1B  is a schematic diagram of a mobile communication device (such as a mobile telephone) telephone embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an example digital assistant environment; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an audio-based solution system configuration; 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart of example logic related to  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a custom skill system configuration; and 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart of example logic related to  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     This disclosure relates generally to computer ecosystems including aspects of consumer electronics (CE) device networks such as but not limited to distributed computer game networks, video broadcasting, content delivery networks, virtual machines, and machine learning applications. Note that many embodiments of the instant chatbot are envisioned, with several, including driverless vehicles and mobile telephones, described and shown herein. 
     A system herein may include server and client components, connected over a network such that data may be exchanged between the client and server components. The client components may include one or more computing devices including game consoles such as Sony PlayStation® and related motherboards, portable televisions (e.g. smart TVs, Internet-enabled TVs), portable computers such as laptops and tablet computers, and other mobile devices including smart phones and additional examples discussed below. These client devices may operate with a variety of operating environments. For example, some of the client computers may employ, as examples, Orbis or Linux operating systems, operating systems from Microsoft, or a Unix operating system, or operating systems produced by Apple, Inc. or Google. These operating environments may be used to execute one or more browsing programs, such as a browser made by Microsoft or Google or Mozilla or other browser program that can access websites hosted by the Internet servers discussed below. Also, an operating environment according to present principles may be used to execute one or more computer game programs. 
     Servers and/or gateways may include one or more processors executing instructions that configure the servers to receive and transmit data over a network such as the Internet. Or, a client and server can be connected over a local intranet or a virtual private network. A server or controller may be instantiated by a game console and/or one or more motherboards thereof such as a Sony PlayStation®, a personal computer, etc. 
     Information may be exchanged over a network between the clients and servers. To this end and for security, servers and/or clients can include firewalls, load balancers, temporary storages, and proxies, and other network infrastructure for reliability and security. One or more servers may form an apparatus that implement methods of providing a secure community such as an online social website to network members. 
     As used herein, instructions refer to computer-implemented steps for processing information in the system. Instructions can be implemented in software, firmware or hardware and include any type of programmed step undertaken by components of the system. 
     A processor may be any conventional general-purpose single- or multi-chip processor that can execute logic by means of various lines such as address lines, data lines, and control lines and registers and shift registers. 
     Software modules described by way of the flow charts and user interfaces herein can include various sub-routines, procedures, etc. Without limiting the disclosure, logic stated to be executed by a particular module can be redistributed to other software modules and/or combined together in a single module and/or made available in a shareable library. 
     Present principles described herein can be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof; hence, illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are set forth in terms of their functionality. 
     Further to what has been alluded to above, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described below can be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A processor can be implemented by a controller or state machine or a combination of computing devices. 
     The functions and methods described below, when implemented in software, can be written in an appropriate language such as but not limited to Java, C# or C++, and can be stored on or transmitted through a computer-readable storage medium such as a random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage such as digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices including removable thumb drives, etc. A connection may establish a computer-readable medium. Such connections can include, as examples, hard-wired cables including fiber optics and coaxial wires and digital subscriber line (DSL) and twisted pair wires. Such connections may include wireless communication connections including infrared and radio. 
     Components included in one embodiment can be used in other embodiments in any appropriate combination. For example, any of the various components described herein and/or depicted in the Figures may be combined, interchanged or excluded from other embodiments. 
     “A system having at least one of A, B, and C” (likewise “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” and “a system having at least one of A, B, C”) includes systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. 
     Now specifically referring to  FIG. 1 , an example system  10  is shown, which may include one or more of the example devices mentioned above and described further below in accordance with present principles. The first of the example devices included in the system  10  is a consumer electronics (CE) device such as an audio video device (AVD)  12  such as but not limited to an Internet-enabled TV with a TV tuner (equivalently, set top box controlling a TV). However, the AVD  12  alternatively may be an appliance or household item, e.g. computerized Internet enabled refrigerator, washer, or dryer. The AVD  12  alternatively may also be a computerized Internet enabled (“smart”) telephone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wearable computerized device such as e.g. computerized Internet-enabled watch, a computerized Internet-enabled bracelet, other computerized Internet-enabled devices, a computerized Internet-enabled music player, computerized Internet-enabled head phones, a computerized Internet-enabled implantable device such as an implantable skin device, etc. Regardless, it is to be understood that the AVD  12  is configured to undertake present principles (e.g. communicate with other CE devices to undertake present principles, execute the logic described herein, and perform any other functions and/or operations described herein). 
     Accordingly, to undertake such principles the AVD  12  can be established by some or all of the components shown in  FIG. 1 . For example, the AVD  12  can include one or more displays  14  that may be implemented by a high definition or ultra-high definition “4K” or higher flat screen and that may be touch-enabled for receiving user input signals via touches on the display. The AVD  12  may include one or more speakers  16  for outputting audio in accordance with present principles, and at least one additional input device  18  such as e.g. an audio receiver/microphone for e.g. entering audible commands to the AVD  12  to control the AVD  12 . The example AVD  12  may also include one or more network interfaces  20  for communication over at least one network  22  such as the Internet, an WAN, an LAN, etc. under control of one or more processors  24 . Thus, the interface  20  may be, without limitation, a Wi-Fi transceiver, which is an example of a wireless computer network interface, such as but not limited to a mesh network transceiver. It is to be understood that the processor  24  controls the AVD  12  to undertake present principles, including the other elements of the AVD  12  described herein such as e.g. controlling the display  14  to present images thereon and receiving input therefrom. Furthermore, note the network interface  20  may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem or router, or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., a wireless telephony transceiver, or Wi-Fi transceiver as mentioned above, etc. 
     In addition to the foregoing, the AVD  12  may also include one or more input ports  26  such as, e.g., a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port or a USB port to physically connect (e.g. using a wired connection) to another CE device and/or a headphone port to connect headphones to the AVD  12  for presentation of audio from the AVD  12  to a user through the headphones. For example, the input port  26  may be connected via wire or wirelessly to a cable or satellite source  26   a  of audio video content. Thus, the source  26   a  may be, e.g., a separate or integrated set top box, or a satellite receiver. Or, the source  26   a  may be a game console or disk player containing content that might be regarded by a user as a favorite for channel assignation purposes described further below. The source  26   a  when implemented as a game console may include some or all of the components described below in relation to the CE device  44 . 
     The AVD  12  may further include one or more computer memories  28  such as disk-based or solid-state storage that are not transitory signals, in some cases embodied in the chassis of the AVD as standalone devices or as a personal video recording device (PVR) or video disk player either internal or external to the chassis of the AVD for playing back AV programs or as removable memory media. Also in some embodiments, the AVD  12  can include a position or location receiver such as but not limited to a cellphone receiver, GPS receiver and/or altimeter  30  that is configured to e.g. receive geographic position information from at least one satellite or cellphone tower and provide the information to the processor  24  and/or determine an altitude at which the AVD  12  is disposed in conjunction with the processor  24 . However, it is to be understood that that another suitable position receiver other than a cellphone receiver, GPS receiver and/or altimeter may be used in accordance with present principles to e.g. determine the location of the AVD  12  in e.g. all three dimensions. 
     Continuing the description of the AVD  12 , in some embodiments the AVD  12  may include one or more cameras  32  that may be, e.g., a thermal imaging camera, a digital camera such as a webcam, and/or a camera integrated into the AVD  12  and controllable by the processor  24  to gather pictures/images and/or video in accordance with present principles. Also included on the AVD  12  may be a Bluetooth transceiver  34  and other Near Field Communication (NFC) element  36  for communication with other devices using Bluetooth and/or NFC technology, respectively. An example NFC element can be a radio frequency identification (RFID) element. 
     Further still, the AVD  12  may include one or more auxiliary sensors  37  (e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, cyclometer, or a magnetic sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, an optical sensor, a speed and/or cadence sensor, a gesture sensor (e.g. for sensing gesture command), etc.) providing input to the processor  24 . The AVD  12  may include an over-the-air TV broadcast port  38  for receiving OTH TV broadcasts providing input to the processor  24 . In addition to the foregoing, it is noted that the AVD  12  may also include an infrared (IR) transmitter and/or IR receiver and/or IR transceiver  42  such as an IR data association (IRDA) device. A battery (not shown) may be provided for powering the AVD  12 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , in addition to the AVD  12 , the system  10  may include one or more other CE device types. In one example, a first CE device  44  may be used to control the display via commands sent through the below-described server while a second CE device  46  may include similar components as the first CE device  44  and hence will not be discussed in detail. In the example shown, only two CE devices  44 ,  46  are shown, it being understood that fewer or greater devices may be used. As alluded to above, the CE device  44 / 46  and/or the source  26   a  may be implemented by a game console. Or, one or more of the CE devices  44 / 46  may be implemented by devices sold under the trademarks Google Chromecast™, Roku®. A CE device may be established by a digital assistant, an example of which is shown and described further below. 
     In the example shown, to illustrate present principles all three devices  12 ,  44 ,  46  are assumed to be members of an entertainment network in, e.g., a home, or at least to be present in proximity to each other in a location such as a house. However, for present principles are not limited to a particular location, illustrated by dashed lines  48 , unless explicitly claimed otherwise. 
     The example non-limiting first CE device  44  may be established by any one of the above-mentioned devices, for example, a digital assistant, a portable wireless laptop computer or notebook computer or game controller (also referred to as “console”), and accordingly may have one or more of the components described below. The second CE device  46  without limitation may be established by a video disk player such as a Blu-ray player, a game console, and the like. The first CE device  44  may be a remote control (RC) for, e.g., issuing AV play and pause commands to the AVD  12 , or it may be a more sophisticated device such as a tablet computer, a game controller communicating via wired or wireless link with a game console implemented by the second CE device  46  and controlling video game presentation on the AVD  12 , a personal computer, a wireless telephone, etc. 
     Accordingly, the first CE device  44  may include one or more displays  50  that may be touch-enabled for receiving user input signals via touches on the display. The first CE device  44  may include one or more speakers  52  for outputting audio in accordance with present principles, and at least one additional input device  54  such as e.g. an audio receiver/microphone for e.g. entering audible commands to the first CE device  44  to control the device  44 . The example first CE device  44  may also include one or more network interfaces  56  for communication over the network  22  under control of one or more CE device processors  58 . Thus, the interface  56  may be, without limitation, a Wi-Fi transceiver, which is an example of a wireless computer network interface, including mesh network interfaces. It is to be understood that the processor  58  controls the first CE device  44  to undertake present principles, including the other elements of the first CE device  44  described herein such as e.g. controlling the display  50  to present images thereon and receiving input therefrom. Furthermore, note the network interface  56  may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem or router, or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., a wireless telephony transceiver, or Wi-Fi transceiver as mentioned above, etc. 
     In addition to the foregoing, the first CE device  44  may also include one or more input ports  60  such as, e.g., a HDMI port or a USB port to physically connect (e.g. using a wired connection) to another CE device and/or a headphone port to connect headphones to the first CE device  44  for presentation of audio from the first CE device  44  to a user through the headphones. The first CE device  44  may further include one or more tangible computer readable storage medium  62  such as disk-based or solid-state storage. Also in some embodiments, the first CE device  44  can include a position or location receiver such as but not limited to a cellphone and/or GPS receiver and/or altimeter  64  that is configured to e.g. receive geographic position information from at least one satellite and/or cell tower, using triangulation, and provide the information to the CE device processor  58  and/or determine an altitude at which the first CE device  44  is disposed in conjunction with the CE device processor  58 . However, it is to be understood that that another suitable position receiver other than a cellphone and/or GPS receiver and/or altimeter may be used in accordance with present principles to e.g. determine the location of the first CE device  44  in e.g. all three dimensions. 
     Continuing the description of the first CE device  44 , in some embodiments the first CE device  44  may include one or more cameras  66  that may be, e.g., a thermal imaging camera, a digital camera such as a webcam, and/or a camera integrated into the first CE device  44  and controllable by the CE device processor  58  to gather pictures/images and/or video in accordance with present principles. Also included on the first CE device  44  may be a Bluetooth transceiver  68  and other Near Field Communication (NFC) element  70  for communication with other devices using Bluetooth and/or NFC technology, respectively. An example NFC element can be a radio frequency identification (RFID) element. 
     Further still, the first CE device  44  may include one or more auxiliary sensors  72  (e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, cyclometer, or a magnetic sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, an optical sensor, a speed and/or cadence sensor, a gesture sensor (e.g. for sensing gesture command), etc.) providing input to the CE device processor  58 . The first CE device  44  may include still other sensors such as e.g. one or more climate sensors  74  (e.g. barometers, humidity sensors, wind sensors, light sensors, temperature sensors, etc.) and/or one or more biometric sensors  76  providing input to the CE device processor  58 . In addition to the foregoing, it is noted that in some embodiments the first CE device  44  may also include an infrared (IR) transmitter and/or IR receiver and/or IR transceiver  78  such as an IR data association (IRDA) device. A battery (not shown) may be provided for powering the first CE device  44 . The CE device  44  may communicate with the AVD  12  through any of the above-described communication modes and related components. 
     The second CE device  46  may include some or all of the components shown for the CE device  44 . Either one or both CE devices may be powered by one or more batteries. 
     Now in reference to the afore-mentioned at least one server  80 , it includes at least one server processor  82 , at least one tangible computer readable storage medium  84  such as disk-based or solid-state storage. In an implementation, the medium  84  includes one or more solid state storage drives (SSDs). The server also includes at least one network interface  86  that allows for communication with the other devices of  FIG. 1  over the network  22 , and indeed may facilitate communication between servers and client devices in accordance with present principles. Note that the network interface  86  may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem or router, Wi-Fi transceiver, or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., a wireless telephony transceiver. The network interface  86  may be a remote direct memory access (RDMA) interface that directly connects the medium  84  to a network such as a so-called “fabric” without passing through the server processor  82 . The network may include an Ethernet network and/or fiber channel network and/or InfiniBand network. Typically, the server  80  includes multiple processors in multiple computers referred to as “blades” that may be arranged in a physical server “stack”. 
     Accordingly, in some embodiments the server  80  may be an Internet server or an entire “server farm”, and may include and perform “cloud” functions such that the devices of the system  10  may access a “cloud” environment via the server  80  in example embodiments for, e.g., network gaming applications, digital assistant applications, etc. Or, the server  80  may be implemented by one or more game consoles or other computers in the same room as the other devices shown in  FIG. 1  or nearby. 
     The methods herein may be implemented as software instructions executed by a processor, suitably configured application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) or field programmable gate array (FPGA) modules, or any other convenient manner as would be appreciated by those skilled in those art. Where employed, the software instructions may be embodied in a non-transitory device such as a CD ROM or Flash drive. The software code instructions may alternatively be embodied in a transitory arrangement such as a radio or optical signal, or via a download over the internet. 
       FIG. 1A  shows a specific non-limiting example in which a system  100  includes a vehicle  102  such as a driverless vehicle in which a chatbot application consistent with present principles has been downloaded from the cloud, such as a server  80 , onto one or more computer memories  104 , which may be implemented by any of the computer storage devices described herein. The chatbot application can be executed by one or more processors  106  to output information as further disclosed below on one or more output devices, including a visual display  108  such as a flat panel display, a tactile signal generator  110  such as a buzzer or other device that generates tactile signals, and one or more audio speakers  112 . The processor  106  may receive input from one or more sensors  114  such as microphones, cameras, biometric sensors. The processor  106  may communicate with a network such as the Internet using one or more wired or more typically wireless network interfaces  116  such as but not limited to Wi-Fi. 
       FIG. 1B  shows another specific non-limiting example in which a system  100 A includes a mobile communication device (MCD)  102 A such as a mobile telephone in which a chatbot application consistent with present principles has been downloaded from the cloud, such as a server  80 , onto one or more computer memories  104 A, which may be implemented by any of the computer storage devices described herein. The chatbot application can be executed by one or more processors  106 A to output information as further disclosed below on one or more output devices, including a visual display  108 A such as a flat panel display, a tactile signal generator  110 A such as a buzzer or other device that generates tactile signals, and one or more audio speakers  112 A. The processor  106 A may receive input from one or more sensors  114 A such as microphones, cameras, biometric sensors. The processor  106 A may communicate with a network such as the Internet using one or more wired or more typically wireless network interfaces  116 A such as but not limited to Wi-Fi. The MCD may also include one or more wireless telephony transceivers  118 A such as but not limited to code division multiple access (CDMA) transceivers, global system for mobile communication (GSM) transceivers, etc. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an example application of a CE device  44  implemented by a digital assistant  200  communicating, via a network interface  202  such as a Wi-Fi or other appropriate wired or wireless interface with the Internet  204  and thence with one or more servers  80  to exchange information therewith. A person  206  can speak into a microphone  208  of the digital assistant  200  and the person&#39;s voice is digitized for analysis using speech recognition by a processor  210  accessing instructions on a computer memory or storage  212  such as disk-based or solid-state storage. The digital assistant responds to queries from the person  206  by accessing data on the server  80  and/or storage  212  and converting query results to audible signals that are played on one or more speakers  214  and/or presented on one or more visual displays  216 . 
     Now referring to  FIG. 3 , an animated avatar  300  may be presented on any of the displays herein with a fictional name  302 . As indicated at  304 , along with presenting the image of the avatar  300 , speech may be played on any of the speakers disclosed herein. In synchrony with playing the speech, the lips  306  of the avatar  300  are caused to move to mimic visemes  308  that a person would make in articulating the words of the speech  304 . 
     The visemes  308  are graphic instructions to cause a processor to establish a configuration of the lips  306 , and to this end may come from a lip synchronization module  310  receiving audio input from a chatbot source  312  such as a digital assistant (e.g., the digital assistant  200  shown in  FIG. 2 ) having a microphone and/or storing or streaming digital audio tracks. The audio input to the lip synchronization module  310  may be in response to speech  314  such as a query spoken by a human speaker  316  into the digital assistant  312  and processed by the digital assistant  312  and/or sent for processing to a cloud server  318 , which returns a response to the human-originated speech  314 . 
     In one embodiment, the digital assistant  312  may execute the lip synchronization module  310 , which may be implemented by the techniques discussed in the present assignee&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 8,743,125, incorporated herein by reference. The LipSync application may be implemented in an example embodiment by the Oculus OVRLipSync for Unity system, which outputs fifteen separate viseme targets. In an example implementation, only visemes representing vowels in the response may be used in the animated morphing of the lips  306  of the avatar  300 , with other visemes being mapped to “nn” (closed lips). In other implementations, visemes representing consonants may be used to animate the lips. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates example logic that may be implemented by the processor (e.g., the processor  210 ) of the digital assistant. Commencing at block  400 , a wakeup word such as the name  302  of the chatbot may be received along with an ensuing query from the human user  316 . The query, in response to the wakeup word alerting the digital assistant to its existence, is used as entering argument to a database at block  402  to retrieve a response at block  406 . The database may be local to the digital assistant or it may be a cloud server  318  database. 
     The response is input as an audio stream to the lip synchronization module  310 , which executes to generate visemes at block  408 . The visemes are used to animate the lips  306  of the avatar  300  in  FIG. 3  in synchrony with playing the response on speakers such as the speakers  214  in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example similar to that of  FIG. 3  in which the lips  306  of the avatar  300  are moved in synchrony with playing query responses on the speakers of a digital assistant  312  in response to queries from a human  316 , with the difference being that in  FIG. 5  a custom skill is implemented by the system. An example custom skill may be the ability to speak Japanese by a digital assistant that ordinarily does not have Japanese language capability. 
     As schematically shown in the example of  FIG. 5 , a wakeup word  500  such as the name  302  of the chatbot is first received to alert the digital assistant that an incoming query is about to be spoken. A launch word  502  is then spoken by the human to initiate the custom skill processing, followed by a skill name  504  to initiate the specific custom skill sought to be invoked. Then, the human speaks the desired output  506  of the custom skill. In the example shown, the human desires to listen to a Japanese translation of the English word “hello”. 
     Having received the custom skill processing launch word, the specific custom skill sought to be invoked (in this example, English-to-Japanese translation), and the desired output thereof (“hello” in Japanese), the digital assistant may send a call for the specific skill and desired outcome to a skill engine  508 , which may be implemented by a cloud server. The skill engine  508  may access a cloud-based code execution service  510  that in turn can access a cloud-based simple storage service  512  using the desired outcome  506  to retrieve the desired outcome modified by the custom skill processing and return it to the skill engine  508 . 
     In the example shown, the code execution service  510  receives the desired outcome in English and inputs the English as entering argument to the storage service  512 , which matches the input (e.g., using a table lookup or other matching algorithm) to the custom skill output sought, in this case, an audio file of “hello” in Japanese. The audio file is returned to the digital assistant  312  for playing thereof on speakers in synchrony with accompanying visemes animating the lips  306  of the avatar  300 . 
     Note that in the example of  FIG. 5 , the digital assistant  312  may communicate directly with the storage service  512  using a bidirectional communication path  514  and may also communicate with the code execution service  510  through the skill engine  508  using a different bidirectional communication path  516 . 
     Thus, when the wakeup word (such as “CB”) is used followed by a launch word (such as “ask”) and then the name of the custom skill (in this case, “Marie”), the query may be sent to a cloud server as in  FIG. 3 , except that a code execution service on the cloud that executes the customization (as may have been previously uploaded to the service) returns a response by accessing a simple storage service database, customized accord to the customization. In the example shown, the simple storage service may store pre-recorded audio files in a customized language, e.g., Japanese. The response may be via text and/or audio, with the response used as above to generate visemes that are used to animate the avatar&#39;s lips. 
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart of example logic consistent with  FIG. 5 . Initially, the custom code and associated audio files to respond to the skill launch words  502 - 506  are uploaded to the cloud at block  600 , e.g., to the code execution service  510  and storage service  512 . Then, at block  602 , responsive to receiving a correct wakeup word  500  the digital assistant listens for an ask word  502  followed by a skill name  504  and desired output  506  to invoke the customization feature shown in  FIG. 5 . Upon receipt of valid terms  502 - 506  the request is sent to the cloud services in  FIG. 5  at block  604  of  FIG. 6 . The response (in the running example, an audio file) is received at block  606 . The audio file is played on speakers in synchrony with generating visemes from the audio file and using the visemes to move the lips of the avatar in block  608 . 
     It will be appreciated that whilst present principals have been described with reference to some example embodiments, these are not intended to be limiting, and that various alternative arrangements may be used to implement the subject matter claimed herein