| abstract |
A method and apparatus for providing learning capability to processing device, such as a computer game, educational toy, telephone, or television remote control, is provided to achieve one or more objective. For example, if the processing device is a computer game, the objective may be to match the skill level of the game with that of a player. If the processing device is an educational toy, the objective may be to increase the educational level of a user. If the processing device is a telephone, the objective may be to anticipate the phone numbers that a phone user will call. If the processing device is a television remote control, the objective may be to anticipate the television channels that will watched by the user. One of a plurality of actions (e.g., game actions, educational prompts, listed phone numbers, or listed television channels) to be performed on the processing device is selected. A user input indicative of a user action (e.g., a player action, educational input, called phone number, or watched television channel) is received. An outcome of the selected action and/or user action is determined. For example, in the case of a computer game, the outcome may indicate whether a computer-manipulated object has intersected a user-manipulated object. In the case of an educational toy, the outcome may indicate whether a user action matches a prompt generated by the educational toy. In the case of a telephone, the outcome may indicate whether a called phone number is on a list of phone numbers. In the case of a television remote control, the outcome may indicate whether a watched television channel is on a list of television channels. An action probability distribution that includes probability values corresponding to the plurality of actions is then updated based on the determined outcome. The next action will then be selected based on this updated action probability distribution. The foregoing steps can be modified based on a performance index to achieve the objective of the processing device so that it learns. |