The present invention provides a wireless natural language query system,
architecture, and method for processing multimodally-originated queries,
including voice and proximity-based queries. The natural language query
system includes a Web-enabled device including a speech input module for
receiving a voice-based query in natural language form from a user and a
location/proximity module for receiving location/proximity information
from a location/proximity device. The natural language query system also
includes a speech conversion module for converting the voice-based query
in natural language form to text in natural language form and a natural
language processing module for converting the text in natural language
form to text in searchable form. The natural language query system
further includes a semantic engine module for converting the text in
searchable form to a formal database query and a database-look-up module
for using the formal database query to obtain a result related to the
voice-based query in natural language form from a database.