CS 599 Dialogue Modelling  Spring 2004


Assignment 1: Testing dialogue systems
Due: In class January 27th

Your assignment is to try talking with at least two dialogue systems (at least one spoken). If possible, record the conversation for later analysis.


Here is a list of some dialogue systems:

1.  Spoken systems:
• Speechworks:
• United Airlines Flight Info: 1.800.824.6200
• Fedex  1.800.463.3339
• MIT : Weather :1-888-573-TALK   
• Deutsche Telecom PRAKDIAK:
• speech dialogue system for the automation of Deutsche Telekom’s directory assistance service + 49 6151 83 7077            
• Vocalis
• Telephone banking +44 (0) 1223 849032
• Multi-lingual  tourist(say language) +44 (0)1223 849016
2.  GoDis (text-based dialogue systems)
• http://www.ling.gu.se/projekt/trindi/trindikit/demos.html
3. Text-based chatterbots
• http://web.infoave.net/%7Ekbcowart/contest_links.html

Write a  brief report on your experiences with each system (at least one paragraph each), and one paragraph comparing the two. No more than 3 pages total. Some things to think about when trying the system:

1) were you able to accomplish the task? If not, what prevented you?

2) did you enjoy the experience? did you find the system helpful or frustrating?
Would you use this system again to accomplish the task?


3)  how good was the understanding? Did it understand what you said/typed? How often?

4) grounding/error handling: what kinds of techniques did the system use (if any) to try to prevent errors? Did they seem successful? What did the system do in the case of an error? Were you able to recover from an error or did you have to start over?

5) Initiative: who took control of the dialogue - you or the system? Were you able to change the control? What happened if you tried to say things the system was not expecting? What if you tried to give extra information? What would the system do if you did not answer, or answered in a way it did not expect?