Verbmobil : translation of face-to-face dialogs

Verbmobil is a long-term project on the translation of spontaneous language in negotiation dialogs. We describe the goals of the project, the chosen discourse domains and the initial project schedule. We discuss some of the distinguishing features of Verbmobil and introduce the notion of translation on demand and variable depth of processing in speech translation. Finally, the role of anytime modules for efficient dialog translation in close to real time is described

Automatic design of multimodal presentations

We describe our attempt to integrate multiple AI components such as planning, knowledge representation, natural language generation, and graphics generation into a functioning prototype called WIP that plans and coordinates multimodal presentations in which all material is generated by the system. WIP allows the generation of alternate presentations of the same content taking into account various contextual factors such as the user\u27s degree of expertise and preferences for a particular output medium or mode. The current prototype of WIP generates multimodal explanations and instructions for assembling, using, maintaining or repairing physical devices. This paper introduces the task, the functionality and the architecture of the WIP system. We show that in WIP the design of a multimodal document is viewed as a non-monotonic process that includes various revisions of preliminary results, massive replanning and plan repairs, and many negotiations between design and realization components in order to achieve an optimal division of work between text and graphics. We describe how the plan-based approach to presentation design can be exploited so that graphics generation influences the production of text and vice versa. Finally, we discuss the generation of cross-modal expressions that establish referential relationships between text and graphics elements

Verbmobil : translation of face-to-face dialogs

Verbmobil is a long-term project on the translation of spontaneous language in negotiation dialogs. We describe the goals of the project, the chosen discourse domains and the initial project schedule. We discuss some of the distinguishing features of Verbmobil and introduce the notion of translation on demand and variable depth of processing in speech translation. Finally, the role of anytime modules for efficient dialog translation in close to real time is described

Plan-based integration of natural language and graphics generation

Multimodal interfaces combining natural language and graphics take advantage of both the individual strength of each communication mode and the fact that several modes can be employed in parallel. The central claim of this paper is that the generation of a multimodal presentation system WIP which allows the generation of alternate presentations of the same content taking into account various contextual factors. We discuss how the plan-based approach to presentation design can be exploited so that graphics generation influences the production of text and vice versa. We show that well-known concepts from the area of natural language processing like speech acts, anaphora, and rhetorical relations take on an extended meaning in the context of multimodal communication. Finally, we discuss two detailed examples illustrating and reinforcing our theoretical claims

VERBMOBIL : Erkennung, Analyse, Transfer, Generierung und Synthese von Spontansprache

Verbmobil ist ein langfristig angelegtes, interdisziplinäres Leitprojekt im Bereich der Sprachtechnologie. Das Verbmobil-System erkennt gesprochene Spontansprache, analysiert die Eingabe, übersetzt sie in eine Fremdsprache, erzeugt einen Satz und spricht ihn aus. Für ausgewählte.Themenbereiche (z.B. Terminverhandlung, Reiseplanung, Femwartung) soll Verbmobil Übersetzungshilfe in Gesprächssituationen mit ausländischen Partnern leisten. Das Verbundvorhaben, in dem Untemehmen der Informationstechnologie, Universitäten und Forschungszentren kooperieren, wird yom Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF) in zwei Phasen (Laufzeit Phase 1: 1993-1996; Phase 2: 1997 - 2000) gefördert. Nachdem in der ersten Phase Terminverhandlungsdialoge zwischen einem deutschen und japanischen Geschaftspartner mit Englisch als Zwischensprache verarbeitet wurden, steht in der zweiten Phase von Verbmobil die robuste und bidirektionale Übersetzung spontansprachlicher Dialoge aus den Domänen Reiseplanung und Hotelreservierung fUr die Sprachpaare Deutsch-Englisch (ca. 10.000 Wörter) und Deutsch-Japanisch (ca. 2.500 Worter) im Vordergrund