Towards Multi-Modal Interactions in Virtual Environments: A Case Study

We present research on visualization and interaction in a realistic model of an existing theatre. This existing ‘Muziek¬centrum’ offers its visitors information about performances by means of a yearly brochure. In addition, it is possible to get information at an information desk in the theatre (during office hours), to get information by phone (by talking to a human or by using IVR). The database of the theater holds the information that is available at the beginning of the ‘theatre season’. Our aim is to make this information more accessible by using multi-modal accessible multi-media web pages. A more general aim is to do research in the area of web-based services, in particu¬lar interactions in virtual environments

Dialogue with computers: dialogue games in action

With the advent of digital personal assistants for mobile devices, systems that are marketed as engaging in (spoken) dialogue have reached a wider public than ever before. For a student of dialogue, this raises the question to what extent such systems are genuine dialogue partners. In order to address this question, this study proposes to use the concept of a dialogue game as an analytical tool. Thus, we reframe the question as asking for the dialogue games that such systems play. Our analysis, as applied to a number of landmark systems and illustrated with dialogue extracts, leads to a fine-grained classification of such systems. Drawing on this analysis, we propose that the uptake of future generations of more powerful dialogue systems will depend on whether they are self-validating. A self-validating dialogue system can not only talk and do things, but also discuss the why of what it says and does, and learn from such discussions

Agent Assistance: From Problem Solving to Music Teaching

We report on our research on agents that act and behave in a web learning environment. This research is part of a general approach to agents acting and behaving in virtual environments where they are involved in providing information, performing transactions, demonstrating products and, more generally, assisting users or visitors of the web environment in doing what they want or have been asked to do. While initially we hardly provided our agents with 'teaching knowledge', we now are in the process of making such knowledge explicit, especially in models that take into account that assisting and teaching takes place in a visualized and information-rich environment. Our main (embodied) tutor-agent is called Jacob; it knows about the Towers of Hanoi, a well-known problem that is offered to CS students to learn about recursion. Other agents we are working on assist a visitor in navigating in a virtual world or help the visitor in getting information. We are now designing a music teacher - using knowledge of software engineering and how to design multi-modal interactions, from previous projects

UNDERSTANDING SHIFTING LANGUAGES ON INDONESIAN TELEVISION: UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL VALUE IN LATE CAPITALISM

The work of Bourdieu (1991), Hobsbawm (1990), Wallerstein (2004), and Bahktin (1981), among others, have become a cornerstone for understanding valuation processes attached to language as well as their relationships with political economy and processes of globalization in a period referred to as “late capitalism” (e.g. Blommaert, 2010; Goebel, 2010, In press; Heller, 2011; Heller & Duchene, 2012b). In this paper, I draw upon this work to offer an interpretation of the ongoing revaluation of languages in Indonesia, including the ideology of Indonesian as the language for doing unity in diversity. My empirical focus will primarily be material I have gathered from television in 2009. Central to my argument will be that as the Indonesian state has moved between centralized and decentralized regimes (often pushed by market forces) these processes have helped regiment multiple centres of normativity around language in Indonesia. With changing political and economic conditions in the early 1990’s local content became increasingly valued in the media. Some languages (and the ethnic groups associated with them) were increasingly commodified, as in the case of Si Doel (e.g. Loven, 2008; Sen & Hill, 2000). As it became clear that local content sinetron was a “sell well” genre, this genre was copied by many other producers of television content (Rachmah, 2006). At the same time, these market forces – and the decreasing influence of the state in determining how language was modelled on television – helped increase the social value of local languages and mixed languages (Goebel, In press). These processes effectively drove language change in the social domain of television

Enhancing the DVIL Chatbot through Linguistic Expertise

Treballs Finals de Grau de Lingüística. Facultat de Filologia. Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2022-2023, Tutora: Mariona Taulé[eng] This dissertation focuses on the development of DVIL chatbot integrated in the Data Visualisation in Linguistics (DVIL) platform, a resource that offers visualisation and analytical tools to enhance the analysis of toxicity in the NewsCom-TOX corpus. The chatbot facilitates natural language interaction with the interface by incorporating natural-language understanding techniques and machine learning algorithms to enable dialogue between the users and interface using queries, to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the corpus. The involvement of linguist has been fundamental in refining the chatbot's capabilities through the enhancement of natural language understanding (NLU) and improvement of responses provided by the chatbot. This work presents the current state of the DVIL chatbot and highlights its potential for facilitating analysis within the DVIL interface, while acknowledging ongoing efforts for future improvements. Keywords: chatbot, visualisation interface, natural-language understanding[spa] Este trabajo se centra en el desarrollo del chatbot DVIL integrado en la plataforma de Data Visualisation in Linguistics (DVIL), un recurso que ofrece herramientas de visualización y análisis para mejorar el análisis de toxicidad en el corpus NewsCom-TOX. El chatbot facilita la interacción en lenguaje natural con la interfaz, al incorporar técnicas de comprensión del lenguaje natural y algoritmos de aprendizaje automático para permitir el diálogo entre los usuarios y la interfaz mediante consultas, para llevar a cabo un análisis exhaustivo del corpus. La participación del lingüista ha sido fundamental para mejorar las capacidades del chatbot mediante la mejora de la comprensión del lenguaje natural y la mejora de las respuestas proporcionadas por el chatbot. Este trabajo presenta el estado actual del chatbot DVIL y resalta su potencial para facilitar el análisis dentro de la interfaz DVIL, al tiempo que identifica los esfuerzos en curso para futuras mejoras. Palabras clave: chatbot, interfaz de visualización, comprensión del lenguaje natural[cat] Aquest treball se centra en el desenvolupament del xatbot DVIL integrat en la plataforma de Data Visualisation in Linguistics (DVIL), un recurs que ofereix eines de visualització i anàlisi per millorar l'anàlisi de la toxicitat en el corpus NewsCom-TOX. El xatbot facilita la interacció en llenguatge natural amb la interfície. Incorpora tècniques de comprensió del llenguatge natural i algoritmes d'aprenentatge automàtic per permetre el diàleg entre els usuaris i la interfície mitjançant consultes, i per dur a terme una anàlisi exhaustiva del corpus. La participació del lingüista ha estat fonamental per afinar les capacitats del xatbot a través de la millora de la comprensió del llenguatge natural i de les respostes proporcionades pel xatbot. Aquest treball presenta l'estat actual del xatbot DVIL i destaca el seu potencial per facilitar l'anàlisi dins de la interfície DVIL, tot identificant els esforços en curs per a futures millores. Paraulas clau: xatbot, interfície de visualització, comprensió del llenguatge natura

A system for event-based film browsing

The recent past has seen a proliferation in the amount of digital video content being created and consumed. This is perhaps being driven by the increase in audiovisual quality, as well as the ease with which production, reproduction and consumption is now possible. The widespread use of digital video, as opposed its analogue counterpart, has opened up a plethora of previously impossible applications. This paper builds upon previous work that analysed digital video, namely movies, in order to facilitate presentation in an easily navigable manner. A film browsing interface, termed the MovieBrowser, is described, which allows users to easily locate specific portions of movies, as well as to obtain an understanding of the filming being perused. A number of experiments which assess the system’s performance are also presented