University of Washington
Department of Electrical Engineering
Speech and Signal Processing Seminar

The next generation of voice-based user interface technology will enable easy-to-use automation of new and existing communication services, achieving a more natural human-machine interaction. By natural, we mean that the machine understands what people actually say, in contrast to what a system designer expects them to say. This approach is in contrast with menu-driven or strongly-prompted systems, where many users are unable or unwilling to navigate such highly structured interactions. AT&T's 'How May I Help You?' (HMIHY sm) technology shifts the burden from human to machine wherein the system adapts to peoples' language, as contrasted with forcing users to learn the machine's jargon. In this talk I will describe the speech, language and dialog technology underlying HMIHY, plus experimental evaluation on live customer traffic.

• Fall Quarter, 2001
• Spring Quarter, 2001
• Fall Quarter, 2000
• Spring Quarter, 2000