Volume 46, Issue 6

This paper deals with speech controlled applications in an industrial environment. Starting from the application areas the requirements resulting from the technical specialities of this field are described. On the basis of example applications and experiences in the practical use, conclusions for the technological realization of speech control systems are derived. The focus is given to the input and output of the audio signals, the data transmission to the speech recognition computer and to the design of dialogues and vocabularies.

This paper describes the adaptation and usage of a general purpose spoken dialog system (SDS) for an experimental telephony based online help system. It presents the basic philosophy of the SDS, the application building process and the results of a usability test.

Spoken language dialog systems allow users to control applications by voice. These systems tightly integrate the applications to control them, even though knowledge sources of the building blocks are often configurable. Some dialog systems controlling multiple applications loosen the coupling. This article introduces a dialog system accessing multiple applications with a dynamic setup that can be changed at run-time, separating the applications from the system. This is achieved by application-independent knowledge processing inside the dialog system based on modular ontological descriptions. A clear interface between dialog system and applications is provided, generic dialog functionality is realized on top of the application independent knowledge processing. Examples illustrate interactions with the system.

In this publication experiences with commercial spoken dialogue systems are discussed and guidelines for achieving high usability are pointed out. Different from most commercially deployed IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems, the systems discussed in this paper belong to a new generation of real mixed-initiative spoken dialogue systems, i. e., the user may take the initiative, using full sentences, at virtually any point in time during the dialogue. We use three commercially deployed systems as example applications: the automated switchboard of a large German company, the movie information system operated by Germany´s largest multiplex cinema, and a football Bundesliga information system operated by a German media company.

Navigation systems have seen significant advancements in recent years. They now exist for desktop computers, automobiles, and mobile devices. They are able to adapt to many different situational contexts and now provide a solid foundation for a wide range of location based services. Mobile multi-modal interfaces have seen similar advancements over the past few years as technologies previously designed for powerful mainframe computers are gradually swept into the reach of mobile devices. This paper describes a multi-modal user interface that has been integrated into a pedestrian navigation service called the Personal Navigator, and a closely interleaved shopping assistant called the Mobile ShopAssist. We describe the wide range of input interaction and output presentation that we believe mobile systems should provide and describe the importance for context-aware systems to adapt their user interfaces to the surrounding environment.

The objective to develop more human-centered, personalized, and at the same time more entertaining interfaces immediately leads to the metaphor of an embodied conversational agent that employs gestures, mimics, and speech to communicate with the human user. Looking at past and current projects, the current paper discusses an ongoing and manifold evolution of embodied conversational agents from conversational settings with single presenters to interactive performances where the user may participate both as an observer and a presenter. We report on new trends, such as the integration of characters in mixed realities as well as endeavours to endow characters with social behaviors.

Non-verbal behavior is an integral part of conversational dialog. When people engage in dialogue they utilize non-verbal behavior both to structure the flow of the conversation as well as to provide feedback about their current understanding of the discourse while the other one is speaking. In this article, we investigate the function of non-verbal behavior and show how it is integrated into a discourse model used within a conversational dialogue system.

In this paper, we discuss issues of accessibility of multimedia applications and web pages with respect to average as well as impaired computer users. The current situation of in-accessibility of multimedia applications and web pages is analyzed with respect to informational and technical deficits. Trends, laws and current research projects are discussed with respect to an improvement of accessibility of electronic media.

Zusammenfassung Asymmetrische Evolutionsstrategien sind Optimierverfahren, die den evolutionären Algorithmen zuzuordnen sind. Durch Entwicklung einer asymmetrischen Verteilungsfunktion ist es möglich, die Leistungsfähigkeit und die Robustheit dieses Optimierverfahrens in Regionen zu bringen, die den evolutionären Algorithmen bisher vorenthalten waren. Insbesondere für ingenieur-wissenschaftliche Problemstellungen bietet sich die asymmetrische Evolutionsstrategie als schnelles, einfach zu implementierendes und robustes Optimierverfahren an.