research about dialogue and dialogue systems and the department of linguistics

1
research about dialogue and dialogue systems and
the department of linguistics

• goal
• develop theories about human dialogue which can
  be used when building dialogue systems
• explore the use of dialogue systems as interfaces
  to applications and services
• Some projects
• TRINDI Task-Oriented and Instructional Dialogue
• SIRIDUS Specification, Interaction and
  Reconfiguration in Dialogue Understanding Systems
• DHomme Dialogues in the Home Environment

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From menu to dialogue

• Staffan Larsson
• Institutionen för lingvistik
• Göteborgs Universitet

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Background

• Many applications and services have menu-based
  interfaces
• mobile phone
• video
• computer
• automatic cinema ticket booking via phone
• But menus have certain disadvantages
• Dialogue systems provide more user-friendly
  interfaces

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Overview

• GoDiS a dialogue system
• Meny vs. dialogue
• Menu components
• Dialogue plans
• Converting menus to dialogue plans
• Examples

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GoDiS a dialogue system

• dialogue manager
• implemented using the information state approach
• based on a theory about dialogue based on
  Questions Under Discussion and dialogue plans
• allows flexible dialogue

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GoDiS architecture

• modules
• speech recogniser
• language interpreter
• dialogue manager
• language generator
• speech synthesis
• Information state
• resources
• lexicon, database, domain knowledge

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control

input
inter- pret
update
select
gene- rate
output

Information State
lexicon
data- base
domain
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Typical human-computer dialogin a travel agency

• S Hello, how can I help you?
• U I want price information please
• S Where do you want to go?
• U Paris
• S How do you want to travel?
• U A flight please
• S When do you want to travel
• U April
• S what class did you have in mind?
• S The price is 123

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Typical human-human dialogue

• S(alesman), C(ustomer)
• S hi
• C flights to Paris
• S when do you want to travel?
• C April, as cheap as possible
• ...

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Flexible dialogue with GoDiS in the travel agency
domain

• answering question which have not yet been asked,
  but which are relevant to some task
• S when do you want to travel?
• U in April, as cheap as possible
• providing information without specified task
• S hello
• U flights to Paris

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Menus vs. dialogueDrawbacks of menus

• User must follow predesigned menu structure
• this structure may be complicated and difficult
  to learn
• menus allow only one activity at a time

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Menu vs. dialogueAdvantages of flexible dialogue

• provide information in any order
• provide information without pre-specifying the
  task
• doing several things at once
• not necessary to learn menu structure

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Menu components

• multiple-choice list
• the user selects one of several prespecified
  choices
• dialogue window
• user types requested information
• tickbox
• user ticks box (or not)
• system message
• information from system user clicks OK

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Sample menu from a Noka 3210

• search phonebook
• dialogue window to type in name
• Name _______
• message showing the number
• Kalle 031 12 34 56
• tickbox whether to call this person
• Call
• if a call is made, a message
• Calling 031 12 34 56

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Dialogue plans

• dialogue plans are partial specifications of how
  the system should act in a dialogue
• action sequences, conditions etc
• Actions
• find the answer to a question
• answer a question
• inform
• search database
• domain-specific actions, e.g. phone up number

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Questions

• yes/no-question
• Do you want to call NN?
• wh-question who, what, which....
• Who do you want to search for?
• alternative-question
• Do you want to search, add to, erase from or
  change the phonebook?

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Converting from menu to dialogue plan
Menu Plan
multi-choice list alternative question
tickbox yes/no-question
dialogue window wh-question
message inform

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the menu again

• search phonebook
• dialogue window to type in name
• message showing the number
• tickbox whether to call this person
• if a call is made, a message

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corresponding plan

• 1 question what name?
• 2 search database for NUMBER matching the name
• 3 answer the number is (NUMBER)
• 4 ask do you want to call?
• 5 if yes then
• call up numberNUMBER
• inform calling NAMN

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another plan assign ringing tone

• 1 ask what name?
• 2 ask which ringing tone?
• 3 assign the ringing tone to the name
• 4 inform the ringing tone for (NAME) is no
  (RINGING TONE)

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Example 1 standard menu navigation

• UGo to the phonebook
• S Phonebook. Do you want to search, add, or
  remove an entry, or assign a ringing tone?
• U Assign ringing tone
• S What name?
• U John
• S Which ringin tone?
• U Bossanova
• S The ringing tone for John is now Bossanova.

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Example 2 providing information which has not
been asked for

• U Assign ringing tone
• S What name?
• U Bossanova for John
• S The ringing tone for John is now Bossanova.

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Example 3 provide information without assigning
task(I)

• U Bossanova for John
• S The ringing tone for John is now Bossanova.

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Example 4 provide information without assigning
task (II)

• U 5 oclock
• S Do you want to set the clock or the alarm
  clock?
• U alarm clock
• S the alarm clock is now set to 5

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Example 5 (video) system requests missing
information

• U record from 1930 to 2000 today
• S What channel?
• U Seven
• S OK, I will record channel 7 from 1930 to
  2000 today.

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Demo

• GoDiS has been adapted to several domains,
  including
• travel agency
• mobile phone interface (course project)
• interface to intellegent house
• cinema ticket booking (MA thesis)
• internet search (MA thesis)
• telephone receptionist
• We will give a demo of the mobile phone interface

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demo

• GoDiS i resebyrådomänen
• 14.30-15.00
• F317

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Dialogplaner

• handling A
• handlingssekvens A1,A2,..., An
• villkorssatser
• if_then(P,C)
• P är ett villkor
• Om P är uppfyllt, gör C