103 research outputs found
Automatic localization and diagnosis of pronunciation errors for second-language learners of English
An automatic system for detection of pronunciation errors by adult learners of English is embedded in a languageâlearning package. Four main features are: (1) a recognizer robust to nonânative speech; (2) localization of phoneâ and wordâlevel errors; (3) diagnosis of what sorts of phoneâlevel errors took place; and (4) a lexicalâstress detector. These tools together allow robust, consistent, and specific feedback on pronunciation errors, unlike many previous systems that provide feedbaconly at a more general level. The diagnosis technique searches for errors expected based on the studentâs mother tongue and uses a separate bias for each error in order to maintain a particular desired global false alarm rate. Results are presented here for nonânative recognition on tasks of differing complexity and for diagnosis, based on a data set of artificial errors, showing that this method can detect many contrasts with a high hit rate and a low false alarm rate
Generic dialogue modeling for multi-application dialogue systems
We present a novel approach to developing interfaces for multi-application dialogue systems. The targeted interfaces allow transparent switching between a large number of applications within one system. The approach, based on the Rapid Dialogue Prototyping Methodology (RDPM) and the Vector Space model techniques from Information Retrieval, is composed of three main steps: (1) producing finalized dia
logue models for applications using the RDPM, (2) designing an application interaction hierarchy, and (3) navigating between the applications based on the user's application of interest
A Personalized System for Conversational Recommendations
Searching for and making decisions about information is becoming increasingly
difficult as the amount of information and number of choices increases.
Recommendation systems help users find items of interest of a particular type,
such as movies or restaurants, but are still somewhat awkward to use. Our
solution is to take advantage of the complementary strengths of personalized
recommendation systems and dialogue systems, creating personalized aides. We
present a system -- the Adaptive Place Advisor -- that treats item selection as
an interactive, conversational process, with the program inquiring about item
attributes and the user responding. Individual, long-term user preferences are
unobtrusively obtained in the course of normal recommendation dialogues and
used to direct future conversations with the same user. We present a novel user
model that influences both item search and the questions asked during a
conversation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system in significantly
reducing the time and number of interactions required to find a satisfactory
item, as compared to a control group of users interacting with a non-adaptive
version of the system
Acoustic Modelling for Under-Resourced Languages
Automatic speech recognition systems have so far been developed only for very few languages out of the 4,000-7,000 existing ones.
In this thesis we examine methods to rapidly create acoustic models in new, possibly under-resourced languages, in a time and cost effective manner. For this we examine the use of multilingual models, the application of articulatory features across languages, and the automatic discovery of word-like units in unwritten languages
A System for Simultaneous Translation of Lectures and Speeches
This thesis realizes the first existing automatic system for simultaneous speech-to-speech translation. The focus of this system is the automatic translation of (technical oriented) lectures and speeches from English to Spanish, but the different aspects described in this thesis will also be helpful for developing simultaneous translation systems for other domains or languages
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