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Dialogue design in speech-mediated data-entry: the role of syntactic constraints and feedback

✍ Scribed by A.C. Murray; D.M. Jones; C.R. Frankish


Book ID
102569101
Publisher
Elsevier Science
Year
1996
Tongue
English
Weight
284 KB
Volume
45
Category
Article
ISSN
1071-5819

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✦ Synopsis


Human -computer interfaces which use speech as the medium for interaction present unique problems for human factors research , due to the fact that automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology is still error prone . The experiments described here address the design of ASR interfaces for data-entry tasks . Particular emphasis was placed on human factors , and users' data-entry performance was compared using not only quantitative measures of speed and accuracy but also more qualitative analyses of user-errors . Experiment 1 investigated the merits of using closed word-sets (syntax) to enhance recognition accuracy . Participants used a purely auditory interface (i . e . one with no visual component to it) programmed to exercise Full Syntactic constraints (FS) , Partial Syntactic constraints (PS) or No Syntactic constraints (NS) on the set of words available for recognition at any given time in the data-entry dialogue . Comparisons of data-entry performance showed an advantage of syntax in terms of ASR performance , and when errors and their consequences were taken into account PS was shown to accommodate users' attempts at error-correction more readily than FS . Experiment 2 compared design options for visual prompts and feedback : a limited area of the visual display was dedicated to the provision of prompts and feedback supporting the spoken data-entry dialogue . Two styles of visual prompt were contrasted : Options Prompts (OP) which displayed the full set of current options for input , and Fieldname Prompts (FP) which displayed only the current Fieldname but could be expanded on command to include the relevant options . The results showed that overall OP led to more ef ficient performance than FP . The errors made by users in the absence of visual feedback were compared with those occurring when the visual component was included in the interface . Recommendations for design of ASR systems for data-entry tasks are made based on the experimental results .