A schema based approach to dialog control

Frame-based approaches to spoken language interaction work well for limited tasks such as information access, given that the goal of the interaction is to construct a correct query then execute it. More complex tasks, however, can benefit from more active system participation. We describe two mechanisms that provide this, a modified stack that allows the system to track multiple topics, and form-specific schema that allow the system to deal with tasks that involve completion of multiple forms. Domain-dependent schema specify system behavior and are executed by a domain-independent engine. We describe implementations for a personal calendar system and for an air travel planning system. 1. INTRODUCTION The success of frame-based information access systems, such as for the ATIS domain (e.g., Ward Issar, 1994) and others (e.g, Goddeau et al., 1996), leads to the question of whether such an approach could be adapted for domains that may require more sophisticated dialog management. Idea...