Dialogue Theory for Virtual Environments,
Abstract
This project has developed a theory of dialogue that enables a machine to cooperate with a human in the solution of a problem. Specifically, the machine proceeds to prove the top level goal that represents the solution to the problem. If it finds subgoals in its proof that it cannot solve, it resorts to an interaction with the user to attempt to obtain the needed information to finish the proof. Carried to its natural conclusion, this strategy becomes a theory of dialogue; all interactions are initiated to fill in gaps in uncompleted proofs. This theory was implemented in a circuit repair system that could help a user diagnose and repair a failure in an electric circuit. The system could interact with the user with voice and was perfected and tested at length. The current project aims to extend the mechanism to handle multimedia interactions with the user. Specifically we have been implementing a multimedia grammatical system that can handle a variety of modes such as voice, graphics entities, displayed text, artificial sounds, and haptic devices. With this system, our dialogue mechanisms can proceed as before but the interactions can utilize all of these communicative modes. The approaches to the research involve both developing a theoretical model and studying its properties and implementing the ideas in a voice graphics interactive dialogue machine. The particular system currently being prototyped is a tutor for teaching computer programming.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA323009
Entities
People
- Alan W. Biermann
Organizations
- Duke University