Interactive natural language problem solving
Alan W. Biermann, D. Gregory, F. Heidlage, Robert D. Rodman, Bruce W. Ballard, T. Betancourt, Griff L. Bilbro, H. Deas, Linda S. Fineman, Pamela K. Fink, Karen Gilbert · 1983
A class of natural language processors is described which allow a user to display objects of interest on a computer terminal and manipulate them via typed or spoken English sentences.This paper concerns itself with the implementation of the voice input facility using an automatic speech recognizer, and the touch input facility using a touch sensitive screen. To overcome the high error rates of the speech recognizer under conditions of actual problem solving in natural language, error correction software has been designed and is described here. Also described are problems involving the resolution of voice input with touch input, and the identification of the intended referents of touch input.To measure system performance we have considered two classes of factors: the various conditions of testing, and the level and quality of training of the system user. In the paper a sequence of five different testing situations is observed, each one resulting in a lowering of system performance by several percentage points below the previous one. A training procedure for potential users is described, and an experiment is discussed which utilizes the training procedure to enable users to solve actual non-trivial problems using natural language voice communication.