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Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
Implementation of IntelliMedia Interface
By
Tony Griffiths
&
Christopher O�Neill
BSc Hons Computing Science DIS
Final Year
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
Contents Chapter 1 � Introduction 1.0 Introduction
1.1 Structure of Report
1.2 Conclusion Chapter 2 � Background 2.0 Introduction
2.1 What is Intelligent Multimedia?
2.2 Spoken Dialog Systems
2.3 Importance of Spoken Dialogue Systems
2.4 Advantages of Spoken Dialog Systems
2.5 CSLU Toolkit
2.5.1 Speech recognition
2.5.2 Speech synthesis
2.5.3 Facial animation
2.5.4 Authoring tools
2.5.5 Waveform analysis tools
2.5.6 Programming environment
2.6 Rapid Application Developer (RAD)
2.7 Conclusion
Chapter 3 � Requirements Analysis 3.1 Introduction
3.2 Gathering and Analysis of Requirements
3.3 System Requirements
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3.4 Functional Requirements
3.5 Non-Functional Requirements
3.6 Conclusion
Chapter 4 � Design 4.1 Introduction
4.2 UML
4.3 Interface Design
4.4 Human �computer Interaction and Interface Design
4.5 Conclusion
Chapter 5 � Implementation 5.0 Introduction
5.1 Hardware/ Software Configuration
5.2 Implementation Method
5.3 Implementing Media Object Images and Shapes
5.4 Conclusion
Chapter 6 � Testing
6.0 Introduction
6.1 White Box Testing
6.2 Black Box Testing
6.3 Functional Requirements
6.4 Non-Functional Requirements
6.5 Conclusion
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Chapter 7 � Evaluation Chapter 8 � Conclusion Story Board References
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Chapter 1 Introduction 1.0 Introduction The following report documents the development of a European travel software
package called �Travel in Europe�. This application has been designed for
travelers departing on Easyjet flights from Belfast International Airport to Europe.
The �Travel in Europe� application will allow users to:
(1) Choose their intended destination.
(2) View/hear information on chosen location.
Users will then be able to progress on to get information on local attractions or
accommodation for the chosen destination through the use of the CSLU toolkit.
1.3 Structure of Report
This Project is sectioned into several different chapters. Below provides a brief
summary of what encompasses each section.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Brief synopsis of the project and its aims.
Chapter 2: Background
Discussion of what Intelligent Multimedia is along with descriptions of the
software that is used to implement the system.
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Chapter 3: Requirements Analysis
Discussion of User Requirements in the form of functional and non-functional.
Chapter 4: Design
This chapter uses UML and story boards to discuss the various features the
system offers.
Chapter 5: Implementation & Testing
This chapter offers a discussion of how the system was implemented using the
CSLU Toolkit.
Chapter 6: Critical Analysis & Conclusion
A critical analysis of the system is given in this chapter along with overall
conclusions of the project.
1.4 Conclusion This chapter offered a brief introduction to the project stating its aims and
objectives. Next we shall discuss relevant background knowledge in terms of
Intelligent Multimedia.
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
Chapter 2
Background
2.0 Introduction
This chapter aims to discuss what Intelligent Multimedia is along with a
description of the various technologies available which will be used during the
design of this project.
2.1 What is Intelligent Multimedia?
Essentially, Intelligent Multimedia involves the development of a system using
�computer processing and understanding perceptual input from speech, text and
visual images, and reacting to it� (McKevitt 1997). The field of Intelligent
Multimedia is an ever-expanding process which continues to evolve rapidly; in
fact, it would be unusual to find any computer application nowadays that exists
without any form of Intelligent Multimedia within it.
One of the aims of Intelligent Multimedia is to create a visually enhanced
interaction or communication with users. It conveys this by combining both
features of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence.
As this field of computing continues to aspire, it seems likely that intelligent
systems will be the future, in terms of how end users interact with applications.
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2.2 Spoken Dialog Systems
Lucent Technologies (2000) refer to spoken dialogue systems as a method that
�enables users to interact with computer systems via natural and intelligent
dialogues, as they would with human agents�. Essentially, the aim of such a
system is to provide a communication link between a user and a computer
interface. Spoken dialogue systems are quickly becoming used in many different
environments, Kamm (1997) reiterates this by stating �Recent advances in
speech technologies, natural language processing, and dialogue modeling have
made it possible to build dialogue agents for a wide range of applications from
voice dialing to accessing information about the weather, train schedules, cultural
events or local restaurants�.
Development of Spoken Dialogue Systems require a wide range of speech and
language technologies, these include the use of automatic speech recognition,
which functions to convert audio signals of human speech into text strings.
Natural language and dialogue processing is also used to determine the meaning
and intention of what is actually being said by the user in order to generate a
response. Text-to-speech synthesis is also used in order for system utterances to
be converted into speech output to the user.
2.3 Importance of Spoken Dialogue Systems
For Spoken Dialogue Systems to be accepted, they must conform to a number of
standards. The interface which the end user will be presented must follow human
computer interaction (HCI) guidelines in order for it to be deemed usable.
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2.4 Advantages of Spoken Dialog Systems
Spoken Dialog Systems offer numerous advantages if put into practice. The first
of these being the familiarity they present to users. Because humans
communicate mainly through speech, by using Spoken Dialog Systems it makes
the user feel as if they are in a natural and familiar environment. This will
therefore result in the users working without any hesitance or reluctance.
Another benefit of using these systems is that it allows the user to issue
commands while remaining �hands-free� and �eyes-free�. This therefore enables
the user to perform tasks by only using speech, whereas previously, it may have
taken both hands/ eyes to perform that task.
Spoken Dialog Systems are also extremely beneficial to people with disabilities.
For example, �Baldi� within the CSLU toolkit, can be used to aid children who are
deaf or hard of hearing by displaying visible speech on the screen or by allowing
the users to lip read the movements of the animated character.
2.5 CSLU Toolkit
The development and implementation of spoken language systems are
extremely costly and time consuming with each application usually taking several
months or even years to complete. The systems are usually only designed in
laboratories with expensive equipment and by experts in the field of language
systems. These factors all contribute in making the development of spoken
language systems a complex process.
Because of the complexities surrounding a normal method of creating a spoken
language system, developers decided that they needed a tool which would
enable them to create a rapid design and implementation. The Centre for Spoken
Language Research (CSLR) of the University of Colorado addressed this
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problem by providing a solution in the form of the CLSU toolkit. This application is
a powerful spoken language system which offers several features including,
speaker and vocabulary independent recognition technology, facial animation
and text-to-speech synthesis. These are only a few of the abilities this application
possesses, but maybe most important of all is that it is extremely easy to use yet
is able to create real world applications. The Centre for Spoken Language
Research (1997) defines in greater detail the main components of the system.
2.5.1 Speech recognition
The toolkit supports several approaches to speech recognition including artificial
neural network (ANN) classifiers, hidden Markov models (HMM) and segmental
systems. It comes complete with a vocabulary-independent speech recognition
engine, plus several vocabulary-specific recognizers.
2.5.2 Speech synthesis
The toolkit integrates the Festival text-to-speech synthesis system and has
developed a waveform-synthesis "plug-in" component including six voices, male
and female versions of American English and Mexican Spanish.
2.5.3 Facial animation
The toolkit features Baldi, an animated 3D talking head developed at the
University of California, Santa Cruz. Baldi, driven by the speech recognition and
synthesis components, is capable of automatically synchronizing natural or
synthetic speech with realistic lip, tongue, mouth and facial movements.
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2.5.4 Authoring tools
The toolkit includes the Rapid Application Developer (RAD), which makes it
possible to quickly design a speech application using a simple drag-and-drop
interface.
2.5.5 Waveform analysis tools
The toolkit provides a complete set of tools for recording, representing, displaying
and manipulating speech. Signal representations such as spectrograms, pitch
contours and formant tracks can be displayed and manipulated in separate
windows.
2.5.6 Programming environment
The toolkit comes with complete programming environments for both C and Tcl,
which incorporate a collection of software libraries and a set of API's. These
libraries serve as basic building blocks for toolkit programming. They are portable
across platforms and provide the speech, language, networking, input, output,
and data transport capabilities of the toolkit.
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Figure 1.0 showing an overview of the CSLU Toolkit
2.6 Rapid Application Developer (RAD)
CSLU (2000) refer to the Rapid Application Developer tool as �a tool for creating
structured dialogues between users and the computer. With it you can create a
wide variety of interactive programs that run both over the telephone and on the
desktop. In RAD you drag and drop dialogue states onto a canvas, connect them
together, and configure them to do things like play audio files, create animated
text-to-speech, recognize spoken language, or display images�. This
Language Resources
Audio Tools
Display Tools
Speech Recognition
Speech Generation
Animated Faces
CSLU Toolkit Dialog Authoring Tools / Language
Tutors / Tutorials / Visualisation Tools / Labelling
High Schools Universities Researchers Industry
Fundamental Components
System Integration
Technology Transfer
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development tool will be used during the implementation of this project. It offers
the developer the ability to create rapid real world applications in a less costly
environment.
2.7 Conclusion
This chapter offered a definition of what Intelligent Multimedia involved as well as
providing an insight into the area of Spoken Language Systems. A detailed
description of the CSLU Toolkit was all provided. The Next chapter will discuss
and describe the system requirements which were established.
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Chapter 3
Requirements Analysis
3.1 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to identify the requirements of the system to be
developed, namely �Travel in Europe�. These requirements will be classified as
either: functional, non-functional or system requirements.
3.2 Gathering and Analysis of Requirements It is frequently argued that the initial analysis of systems requirements is the
single most important phase in the software development process. It involves the
system developer identifying what a new system is expected to do. It is extremely
important that correct information needs are established so the system developer
can set about designing a system that exactly matches the requirements of the
user.
We looked at a number of existing tourist related software packages and
analysed each in turn. From the analysis of these, we have arrived at the
following requirements in relation to the proposed system to be developed. Each
of the following were used as the basis for the requirements of the user with
regard to the �Travel in Europe� application.
• Language used within the system developed must be clear and simple so
as the user can understand it with ease.
• It is vital that screens designed adhere to GUI guidelines with respect to:
ensuring screens are not cluttered and that the interface implemented is
both visually pleasing and �eye-catching�.
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• Finally, as the system is to facilitate various classification of user � the
system designed must be easily navigated and a clear path throughout the
various screen must evident. This is of extreme importance as we don�t
want the user to suffer from the �Lost in Cyberspace� syndrome.
3.3 System Requirements A number of system requirements have been identified that are essential in order
of the �Travel in Europe� system to function at its optimal performance level.
These are detailed below:
CPU Speed Minimum 600 MHz
Memory Minimum 256MB RAM
Internet Connection Dial-Up or Broadband Access
Software CSLU Toolkit � Available to download
at: http://cslu.cse.ogi.edu/toolkit
Operating System Windows 2000, Windows XP
Hardware Personal Computer (PC), Monitor,
Keyboard, Mouse, Microphone &
Earphones
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3.4 Functional Requirements
There are a number of different descriptions of what exactly functional
requirements are. As Sommerville (2000) states: �Functional requirements are
the statements of the services the system should provide, how the system should
provide these and how the system should react to particular inputs and how the
system should behave in particular situations�.
In order to best manipulate intelligent multimedia technologies and
methodologies, we believe that the �Travel in Europe� system users should be
able to input their choices using speech. The system should be able to
understand what they mean. The first step in the tourist information system
proposed would be to allow the user to select their intended destination from a
map displayed on the screen. The map will highlight all outbound easyjet flights
from Belfast International Airport to Britain and Europe. The user should be able
to use a mouse to �click� on the city they want information on. Once the
destination has been selected, a spoken description of the city will be conversed
to the user via an artificially generated voice that is a constitute part of the CSLU
Toolkit environment.
The next logical step in the process is for the system to allow user input in the
form of spoken dialogue, with regard to weather or not they wish to receive
information on accommodation or local attractions. The user should be able to
make their choice and consequently receive information in both spoken dialogue
and image representation formats. I.e. A picture of the chosen
accommodation/local attraction will be displayed on the screen as well as a
�running commentary� on specific information that relates to these.
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Another important consideration is that the system be designed to handle
incorrect or invalid input. When such an event occurs, the system must provide a
message to inform the user of what has happened, and if possible provide
guidance on how to go about rectifying the error.
3.5 Non-Functional Requirements Non-functional requirements are often described as the aspects and constraint of
a system that have no bearing on how well a system is able to carryout its
fundamental requirements. With respect to the proposed system, it must be able
to cater for different users who possess differing levels of computational
expertise. Any such application designed as part of this project must be
engineered with maintainability and portability in mind. The system arrived at
needs to be easily updated and maintained as things like accommodation are
constantly changing. With respect to portability, the application designed must be
easily accessed from different location, for example to facilitate access from
multiple kiosks in an airport environment.
3.6 Conclusion As mentioned earlier, how well requirements are gathered will determine the
overall success of the end product. A number of requirements have been
highlighted in this chapter and it is essential that they be incorporated into the
final design of the �Travel in Europe� application.
The next chapter will detail the design of the proposed tourist information
application.
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Chapter 4
Design
4.1 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the overall design of the proposed
system being developed. We also consider the overall architecture of the system
for the �Travel in Europe� application.
4.2 UML � Unified Modeling Language and system design It is widely perceived as good practice to use UML to aid the design of a piece of
software. UML is the industry standard language for specifying, visualizing,
constructing and documenting the components that compose a software system.
Using UML helps the user to get a clear understanding of the structure of the
system, as well as the processes that drive the system.
Rational Software Corporation (2001) states it is an �integrated lifecycle
development solution that unifies the cross functional development team while
optimizing productivity�.
Making efficient use of UML helps the system developer to represent a system
structure in a visually appealing and easily understood manner. It is therefore
easier to arrive at a good system design as the visualization used helps those
concerned to understand what is required of the proposed application. The
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requirements identified in the previous chapter can therefore be incorporated into
the final design with relative ease.
Here is a use case diagram depicting the actions that take place within the
�Travel in Europe� application:
USER Choose a travel destination from map
Hear information on chosen destination
Choose to get information on accomodation
Hear & See accomodation related infomation
Choose to get infomation on local attractions
Hear & See local attraction related information
Return to the 'Choice of destination' screen
4.3 Interface Design In addition to designing the actual architecture of the system, it�s as important to
ensure that the user interface be well constructed. As this is the physical
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representation that the user sees, it important that it make a good impression
with them. In general terms it must be user friendly, be consistently laid-out and
must appeal to both the expert and novice user.
4.4 Human �computer Interaction and Interface Design Human Computer Interaction (HCI) guidelines are often overlooked in the
development of user interfaces. Occasionally, developers are too focused in
creating fascinating code, introducing new colour codes and graphics instead of
actually following the actual user requirements. Essentially, they are ignoring
what the user actually wants, one of the major ways of guaranteeing that the
application will not be used as the user will be unhappy with the end product.
What the users specify is for the creator/ developer of the application to follow
the user requirements and meet their needs so that the final system will be user-
friendly (Pearrow 2000). When setting about designing a GUI (Graphical User Interface), there are certain
standards and guidelines that must be followed. One such set of guidelines relate
to human-computer interaction.
According to ACM SIGCHI:
�Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design,
evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for
human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them�.
Throughout the design of the �Travel in Europe� application, all the identified
guidelines were adhered to. It can therefore be argued that the system
developed illustrates good design.
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4.5 Conclusion This chapter details the design of the �Travel in Europe� application. As
suggested in many texts, the design of the system is possibly the most important
element to follow in the implementation process. As well as designing the actual
structure of the application, equal consideration must be given to ensuring good
interface design.
The following chapter will focus on the implementation of the identified design for
the system.
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Chapter 5
Implementation
5.0 Introduction The proceeding chapter will discuss the implementation procedure of the
planning and designs in chapter four.
5.1 Hardware/ Software Configuration
The hardware/ software used in order to implement the system is listed below:
• P.C.
• 2.4 GHz
• 540 MB Ram
• Windows XP
• CSLU Toolkit
5.2 Implementation Method
Using the requirements that were established in chapter three (Requirements
Analysis), the developers began the implementation of the �Travel in Europe�
system.
Throughout implementation, the developers continually tested the system. By
doing so, it meant that the initial user requirements were more likely to be
achieved.
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Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
As stated above, the CSLU Toolkit was the main software application used to
implement the system. Below gives a description of each of the various functions
used within it.
Figure 5.0 shows the �Start Object�. This was used in order to start the
implementation of the system and to point where the dialogue starts. The
direction of how the system flows is indicated by arrows, similar to that shown
below.
Figure 5.0
Figure 5.1 illustrates a �Generic Object� which is used to connect dialogues
together. It allows the built in function of �Baldi� to communicate to the user or
else to provide �branching� depending upon the speech input.
Figure 5.1
The �Sub Dialogue� object (Figure 5.2) is used mainly to organise the system into
components. Each of these sub-dialogues can be regarded as a mini �RAD�
canvas that can be saved within the main canvas. This then allows the developer
to reuse system parts which results in an uncluttered canvas.
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Figure 5.2
Figure 5.3 provides an example of the �media object� that is used to insert image
maps and pictures. Essentially an image map is an image which can be clicked
upon to perform a function. Each image map can be presented in two formats,
�present� and �remove� media. These two functions are self explanatory, with
�present� displaying an image to the canvas, and �remove� removing the image
from the canvas.
Figure 5.3
Figure 5.4 displays the �Goodbye Object� which is used in order to exit or end the
application.
Figure 5.4
5.3 Implementing Media Object Images and Shapes
By loading an image onto the RAD media object creates image maps. Within the
image map editor one can define clickable regions. To enter the image map
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editor, the user can click on the �media� tab and then choose �present media�.
This will display the image map option. From here, click �Edit�, this will in turn
open the image map editor. In order to create an image map which offers
clickable regions, the image must first be loaded into the image map editor. Once
completed, use the draw tool to define each region. For this system, the various
European cities were deemed clickable from the map provided. To name each of
the various regions, the user should double click on the clickable area and then
select �properties�. Each of these named regions are regarded as identifiers.
Within this system, the user will be prompted with a map of Europe (Figure 5.5)
from which they can select a clickable region to gain various tourist information.
5.4 Conclusion This chapter offered a view as to how the system was implemented suing the
CSLU Toolkit. The next chapter now test the system on how it met its
requirements.
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6.0 Introduction
This chapter in concerned with the testing and evaluation of the �Travel in
Europe� application. The functional and non-functional requirements that have
been identified in chapter 3 will be tested to make sure that the system as a
whole meets with these identified criteria.
It is widely believed that testing is one of the most important stages in the greater
software development lifecycle. Comprehensive testing of the entire project is
required to ensure that the final project is of a high enough standard and to check
that it meets all of the requirements identified by the users or potential users of
the system. A procedural testing process is used in this chapter to uncover errors
that exist within the system. Identifying errors early means that there is a better
chance of resolving them. This will help to ensure that the system is as �error-
free� as possible before it is released to the customer.
There are a number of different testing methods that can be used in testing this
system. These are.
6.1 White Box Testing
White box testing is also a dynamic test case method; however, it is based on
how an item is processed internally. Vlient (2003, p.399) states that white box
testing is a �complementary approach, in which we consider the internal logical
structure of the software in the derivation of test cases�. Unlike black-box testing,
white box testing requires a good understanding of programming code in order to
examine outputs. However, the test is only accurate if the tester knows exactly
what the program is suppose to do, therefore they can see whether or not the
program derives from its intended functions.
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6.2 Black Box Testing Pressman (1997, p.486) refers to black box testing as a technique that �focuses
on the functional requirements of the software. That is, black-box testing enables
the software engineering to derive sets of input conditions that will fully exercise
all functional requirements for a program�. Black-box testing, also known as
functional or specification testing, is a dynamic test case method in which test
cases are designed without regard to how the item is processed internally, its
only concern is based on the result associated with the inputs.
In order to test the �Travel in Europe� application � a number of test cases were
created. With this testing technique � users entered sample input data, the
expected output from the system was stated and the actual output given by the
system was recorded. The test cases can be seen below.
Testing of the �Travel in Europe� application was undertaken by four students
who study within the University of Ulster at Magee. These individuals come from
different educational backgrounds within our community. We carried these tests
out in this manner as we wanted to verify that the system designed could be
used by a variety of people, from novice to expert.
Nielson (2000) suggests that: �The best results come from testing no more than 5
users and running as many small tests as you can afford. After the fifth user, you
are wasting your time by observing the same findings repeatedly as you are not
learning much new information�.
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6.3 Functional Requirements
Requirement Users must be able to input their choice via speech, e.g.,
Use speech to give their menu option selection.
Result Pass � Users are able to input their choice via speech.
Comment When the user speaks to the system � it recognises the
input and provides the user with a suitable response.
Requirement User uses speech to respond to the system and is
understood by the system.
Result Pass � Users speech input is recognised and understood
by the system.
Comment When the user speaks to the system � it recognises and
understands the input and provides the user with a
suitable response.
Requirement User should be able to select a destination by clicking on it
from a map displayed on screen
Result Pass � User is provided with an Easyjet map of
destinations in Europe and can select a destination by
clicking on it
Comment The system displays a map of European destinations to
the user � the user can select their choice by clicking on
one of the thirteen travel destinations. The destinations
are: Luton, Gatwick, Malaga, Glasgow, Liverpool,
Stansted, Nice, Edinburgh, Alicante, Amsterdam,
Newcastle, Paris and Bristol.
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Requirement Once user has selected a destination � they should be
able to hear a spoken description of that holiday
destination.
Result Pass � Users are provided with a comprehensive
description of the destination choose.
Comment Baldi relays information about the chosen destination to
the user in spoken form.
Requirement Once user has heard the description of a destination �
they should be able to select if they want to hear
information about accommodation or local attractions
specific to that region.
Result Pass � Users are able to choose YES or NO at this point.
This input is in spoken dialog form.
Comment If the user selects YES: They are required to select either
accommodation or local attraction. All input at this stage is
in spoken form. If they select NO: They are asked is they
want to select another destination.
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Requirement If user selects accommodation information they should be
able to hear a list of various accommodation types
available in a particular region and select one using
speech.
Result Pass � Users are provided with a list of accommodation
types and can select one using speech.
Comment Baldi tells the user the various types of accommodation
available. Accommodation types include various
classifications of hotels and Bed & Breakfasts.
Requirement If user selects local attraction information they should be
able to hear a list of various local attractions that are
located in a particular region and select one using speech.
Result Pass � Users are provided with a list of local attractions
and can choose to find out more about one by selecting it
via speech input.
Comment Baldi lists to the user, the various local attractions in a
particular area. The user must select one of these using
speech � the result is a spoken description of the
attraction provided by Baldi. Various attractions included
in the application are: Disneyland Paris, The London Eye
and the Van Gogh Museum.
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Requirement If the user inputs an incorrect or unavailable answer � s/he
is prompted to re-enter.
Result Pass � Users are asked to enter their choice again if the
system does not recognise their response or input.
Comment Baldi relays the question to the user when an incorrect
choice or input is given and the user is asked to make
their choice again.
6.4 Non-Functional Requirements
Requirement The system must be easy to understand and use by both
local tourists and those from further a field.
Result Pass � system is very easy to understand and use.
Comment This was tested by a number of students, both local and
international. They all found the system easy to
understand and use.
6.5 Conclusion
This chapter has outlined the various testing procedure that were used to ensure
that the �Travel in Europe� application fulfilled the requirements stated earlier in
the report. After testing the system and all the options that are possible
throughout � the application is successful and meets the requirements identified. All the users of the system found it easy to use and understand.
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The following chapters were the responsibility of Arron Mahon � however, due to
unforeseen circumstances he is no longer studying within the University of Ulster
at this time. We therefore summarise the areas he was to cover as follows:
7.0 Evaluation The system �Travel in Europe� designed fulfilled the requirements that were
stated in chapter three of this report. The system allowed users to communicate
with the system using multiple input modes (speech & mouse input) � to view the
various travel destinations within Europe. Once a destination had been chosen �
the user could then choose to receive information on either accommodation or
local attractions.
According to Oviatt (2000), �Multimodal interfaces are expected to support a
wider range of diverse applications, to be usable by a broader spectrum of the
average population and to function more reliably under realistic and challenging
usage conditions�.
Although the system designed fulfilled the various requirements identified in
chapter three of this project, there are a number of things which could be
improved if more time was available to us. The program we have developed is
currently only in English. With more time and a greater knowledge of both the
CSLU Toolkit and relevant European languages � the application domain could
have been extended to incorporate a wider range of languages and dialect so as
to appeal to as many different nationalities of user as possible.
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8.0 Conclusion The main aim of this project was to develop a speech dialogue system, which
would allow tourists wishing to travel on easyjet flights from Belfast to
destinations in Britain and Europe to access information on the destination of
their choice. Once they had their destination chosen � they could then go about
getting additional information on various accommodation types in the area as
well as information on local attractions and places to see. This application is
aimed at a broad range of people; from the people of Ireland to individuals from
further a field.
This report provides an overview of the requirements analysis, design,
implementation and testing of the �Travel in Europe� application. The report
investigated the area of Intelligent Multimedia and Spoken Dialogue Systems and
the benefits these systems have to offer. The report also looked at how
technology has become an important aspect of the tourism industry.
The conclusions that can be drawn from the completion of this report is that,
overall, it was a success. The application developed met all the objectives
identified and some progress has been made in relation to enhancing the
interactive experience of accessing travel information.
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
Storyboard This story board navigates the user through one sample route within the �Travel
in Europe� information system. Its purpose is to give a brief insight into the
operation of the system developed.
On running the �Travel in Europe� application, the user is asked to select an
intended destination. The above map is displayed to the user, using the �Media
Object� within the CSLU Toolkit. The map has certain �clickable-regions� that we
identified as the locations that Easyjet fly to, from Belfast International Airport.
The user is required to input their choice by clicking on the appropriate
destination. This advances them to the next stage in the process.
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
If the user chooses to view information on Paris, the above picture is displayed
on screen. The �Media Object� again is used to display this form of media.
However, in this instance in addition to displaying a graphic - a spoken dialogue
has also been included. The spoken dialogue is used to give the user a
description of the location selected. In this case the following is read to the user:
�Paris is one of the world's most beautiful, fashionable and cultural capital
cities. Walking through the heart of Paris you often feel like you've
wandered onto an art film set; much of the city has been scrubbed clean in
recent years and it's never looked more fabulous. Its inhabitants are the
definition of style, its architecture includes some of the most spectacular
buildings and monuments in Europe and the ambience is by turns exciting,
alluring and effortlessly romantic�.
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
Once the user has received both the picture and spoken description of the
intended destination � they are asked if they require information on
accommodation or local attractions. To progress to the next state, the user is
required to make a spoken input of either: YES or NO. Choosing YES gives the
user a choice as to what information they receive. They must again use spoken
dialogue to state either �Accommodation� or �Local Attractions�.
For the purpose of this system walkthrough, we will show what happens when
the user chooses to receive information on �Local Attractions�. In relation to Paris
� the user is required to choose between receiving information on either �The
Eiffel Tower� or �Euro Disney�. This input is again spoken into the system.
Depending on what the user inputs, one of the following two instances will occur.
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
If the user selects �The Eiffel Tower� � the above picture is displayed and the
following script is dictated to the system user:
�With 2 million visitors the first year and almost 6 million people a year
today, the Eiffel Tower is a real crowd pleaser. At the crossroads of the
entire world, more than 200 million visitors have come since its
construction.
It's not surprising when you consider the Eiffel Tower is the monument that
best symbolizes Europe. It's also the one tourists prefer�.
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
However, if the user selects �Euro Disney� � the above image of the Disneyland
resort is displayed and the following script is dictated to the system user:
�Disneyland Paris, situated in the heart of France and easily accessed
from all over Europe is the biggest tourist attraction in Europe, and is only
surpassed world-wide by Disney's other parks in Florida and California.
Around 12.5 million visitors enter the park every year, ready to enjoy all
the magical fun and laughter that only Disney can deliver�.
Once this process is complete, the user is returned to the initial state of the
system where the following question is posed:
�Do you want to select another destination?�
Selecting �NO� at this point causes the system to closedown.
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
References Centre for Spoken Language Research, 1997, CSLU Toolkit defined, Available at: http://cslu.cse.ogi.edu/ Centre for Spoken Language Research, 1997, Rapid Application Developer Defined, Available at: http://cslu.cse.ogi.edu/ Hewett et al. 1996, ACM SIGCHI Curricula for Human Computer Interaction [Online], Available at: http://sigchi.org/sigchi/cdg/cdg2.html#2_1 Kamm, C. 1997, INTERACTIVE SPOKEN DIALOG SYSTEMS: Bringing Speech and NLP Together in Real Applications [Online], Available at: http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~radev/acl/ACL97/interactive-spoken.html Lucent Technologies, 2000, Spoken Dialogue Systems [Online], Available at: http://www.bell-labs.com/org/1133/Research/SpokenDialogSystems/ McKevitt, P., Gammack, J. 1996, The Sensitive Interface. In: McKevitt, P. ed. Integration of Natural Language and Visual Processing. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Page 275-298. Nielson, J (2000), Heuristic Evaluation Explained [Online], Available at: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_evaluation.html Oviatt, S. (2000), Multimodal Interfaces That process what comes naturally [Online], Available at: http://www.cse.ogi.edu/CHCC/ Pearrow, M. 2000, Website Usability Handbook, Charles River Media. Pressman, R. 1997, Software Engineering, McGraw Hill. Rational Rose Corporation, 2001, Rational Rose Document [Online], Available at: http://www.rational.com/media/products/rose/D185F_Rose.pdf
Intelligent Multimedia Assignment 2
Tony Griffiths Christopher O�Neill
Sommerville, L. 1997, Software Engineering, 5th Edition, Addison-Wesley. Vliet, H. 2003, Software Engineering, Wiley Publishers.