Challenges posed by voice interface to child-agent collaborative storytelling

Child-agent collaborative storytelling can be facilitated through text and voice interfaces. Voice interfaces are more intuitive and closely resemble the way people usually relate to one another. This may be attributed to the colloquial characteristics of everyday conversations that do away with rigid linguistic structures typically present in text interfaces, such as observing the use of correct grammar and spelling. However, the capabilities of voice-based interfaces currently available in virtual assistants can lead to failure in communication due to user frustration and confusion when the agent is not providing the needed support, possibly caused by the latter\u27s misinterpretation of the user\u27s input. In such situations, text-based interfaces from messaging applications may be used as an alternative communication channel. In this paper, we provide a comparative analysis of the performance of our collaborative storytelling agent in processing user input by analyzing conversation logs from voice-based interface using Google Assistant, and text-based interface using Google Firebase. To do this, we give a brief overview of the different dialogue strategies employed by our agent, and how these are manifested through the interfaces. We also identify the obstacles posed by incorrect input processing to the collaborative tasks, and offer suggestions on how these challenges can be addressed. © 2019 IEEE