The VoiceXML Forum Tools Committee is holding a one-day workshop on Advanced Dialogs for voice-activated systems on August 23, 2007 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New York Marriott Marquis. This workshop is our second on Advanced Dialogs and follows a first successful session held at SpeechTEK West 2007.
The purpose of the workshop is to promote technology exchange among spoken language experts and to explore what dialog specification concepts should be standardized for deploying advanced voice-activated services. Attendees will analyze alternative approaches and suggest recommendations for how standards should proceed for supporting advanced dialogs.
The Workshop will be co-located with SpeechTEK East 2007. Invited workshop participants are eligible for a complimentary SpeechTEK Bronze pass. There is a $50 fee for this session, which includes the workshop and lunch.
Admission to the workshop is by invitation only. To receive an invitation, please submit a use case for an advanced dialog. The use case need not describe an entire service; rather it depicts an exchange - perhaps a dozen or two utterances - between a caller and an automated service. The use case may be in dialog or flowchart form. A sample dialog form use case (one using a non-advanced dialog) is shown below. View more examples of use cases submitted by participants. Note that we use the following definition to distinguish basic dialogs from advanced dialogs:
Advanced Dialog: A voice user interface specification that cannot efficiently be represented by a finite state machine.
The goal of this exercise is to produce examples of study cases to illustrate why advanced dialog engines are needed and as a test model for crafting an advanced dialog strategy.
If you can't think of an advanced dialog use case, we will accept a short position paper on the topic of what kind of service might require an advanced dialog.
Please submit use cases (or position papers) to dialog@voicexml.org. Use cases and papers submitted will be published at www.voicexml.org. All material provided in advance of or during the workshop will be considered to be in the public domain. Registration instructions will be included with the invitation.
Please note the following deadlines:
9 August 2007: Use case submission
18 August 2007: *Registration (Click here to Register)
23 August 2007: Workshop
*There is a $50 participation fee, including the workshop and lunch.
Agenda: Second Workshop on Advanced Dialogs
| 9:00 am |
Attendee introduction - and topic introduction
|
| 9:20 am |
Present an a priori list of AD criteria. |
| 9:40 am |
AT&T video |
| 9:50 am |
5-minute review of each submitted use case. |
| 11:00 am |
break |
| 11:10 am |
Problem definition. The goal is to create a new criteria list w/use case for each:
A. Loud debate on which use cases qualify as AD
B. Update the definition & criteria |
| 12:30 pm |
Food Fight (working lunch)
C. Select or create use cases as examples of new definition & criteria |
| 2:00 pm |
Naptime
Everything up till now comprises the problem definition. We now turn our attention to the solution. |
| 2:15 pm |
Discussion on what techniques we can use for a solution. |
| 3:00 pm |
Metalanguage overview - Ian Sutherland |
| 3:15 pm |
Propose possible strategies for integrating AD into standards |
| 3:45 |
Plan next steps: Start a series of conference calls? Plan another workshop?
Report on AD live systems deployed in next meeting?
|
| 4:00 pm |
Adjourn |
Example of a basic (not advanced) dialog
IVR: Thank you for staying at the Sleepy Driver Motel. Would you like to order room service, complain about the hot water, or schedule a wakeup call?
Caller: I want a wakeup call.
IVR: What time do you want your wakeup call?
Caller: Five thirty a.m.
IVR: Did you say, 'nine thirty a.m.'?
Caller: No. Five thirty.
(The IVR remembers that the caller asked for a.m.)
IVR: Did you say, 'five thirty a.m.'?
Caller: Yes.
IVR: Happy dreams.
* Note that this use case would not qualify for an invitation because it may be efficiently implemented with a finite state machine. Note also that it is not necessary to cover all possible responses (e.g. we do not illustrate ordering room service) or all possible error conditions (no response, system outages, etc.)
Return to the VoiceXML Tools Committee Advanced Dialogs Working Group page. |
