Abstract for scheffler_tr355

Cambridge University Engineering Department Technical Report CUED/F-INFENG/TR355

SIMULATION OF HUMAN-MACHINE DIALOGUES

K.H. Scheffler and S.J. Young

September 1999

The field of spoken dialogue systems has developed rapidly in recent years. However, optimisation, evaluation and rapid development of systems remain problematic. In this research, a method was developed to produce probabilistic simulations of mixed initiative dialogue with recognition and understanding errors. Both user behaviour and system errors are modelled using a data-driven approach, and the quality of the simulations are evaluated by comparing them to real human-machine dialogues.

The simulation system can be used to perform rapid evaluations of prototype systems, thus aiding the development process. It is also envisaged that it will be used as a tool for automation of dialogue design.


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