Catherine G. Wolf

Communication and information retrieval with a pen-based meeting support tool

We-Met (Window 13nvirontnent-Meeting Enhancement Tools) is a prototype pen-based tool designed to support both the communication and information retrieval needs of stnall group meetings. The first part of this paper describes We-Met and the rationale for its design, the second discusses findings from an empirical study of the use of We-Met for group communication, ami the third discusses findings from a study of the search and retrieval of information from non-computer based meetings conducted to provide insight into how to facilitate these activities in We-Met. ‘Ile paper identifies potential comtnunication process gains due to the pen-based interface style, opportunities for the facilitation of information retrieval in a pen-based tool, and functionality/interface challenges in the design of a tool to support small group mwt i rigs.

Language model adaptation via network of similar users

A language recognition system, method and program product for recognizing language based input from computer users on a network of connected computers. Each computer includes at least one user based language model trained for a corresponding user for automatic speech recognition, handwriting recognition, machine translation, gesture recognition or other similar actions that require interpretation of user activities. Network computer users are clustered into classes of similar users according to user similarities such as, nationality, profession, sex, age, etc. User characteristics are collected by sensors and from databases and, then, distributed over the network during user activities. Language models with similarities among similar users on the network are identified. The language models include a language model domain, with similar language models being clustered according to their domains. Language models identified as similar are modified in response to user production activities. After modification of one language model, other identified similar language models are compared and adapted. Also, user data, including information about user activities and language model data, is transmitted over the network to other similar users. Language models are adapted only in response to similar user activities, when these activities are recorded and transmitted over the network. Language models are given a global context based on similar users that are connected together over the network.

Collaborative customer services using synchronous Web browser sharing

For complicated transactions and inexptienced users, se~-smite may not be *cimL b addition, for marketing and sales, there maybe no substitute fm a good salesperson. Thus, there is tiue in combining ~chronous am to products and services OVHthe Web with Wchronous, human assistance v’hen needd h ord~ to pr~ vide better service to customas, increase d=, and ~erentiate their Webbased services tiom the repetition, a numbs of businesses are starting to fiTlore means of integrating Eve customs service into their Web sites.

Tools for supporting the collaborative process

Collaborative software has been divided into two temporal categories: synchronous and asynchronous. We argue that this binary distinction is unnecessary and harmful, and present a model for collaboration processes (i.e. the temporal record of the actions of the group members) which includes both synchronous and asynchronous software as submodels. We outline an object–oriented toolkit which implements the model, and present an application of its use in a pen–based conferencing tool.

CAN PEOPLE USE GESTURE COMMANDS

This paper reports initial results from a paper and pencil study of the use of hand-drawn gestures for simple editing tasks (see Wolf, 1986, for a more detailed report). Hand-drawn gestures are of particular interest in an interface which allows the user to write directly on the surface of a display with a stylus. In such an interface, the user can, for example, delete a word simply by crossing it out.

Gesturing with shared drawing tools

This paper repofis on how people used a pen-based shared drawing application in support of their needs for gesturing in a collaborative drawing task.

A comparative study of gestural, keyboard, and mouse interfaces

Abstract This paper presents results from three experiments which compared gestural, keyboard, and mouse/keyboard interfaces to a spreadsheet program. This is the first quantitative comparison of these types of interfaces known to the author. The gestural interface employed gestures (hand-drawn marks such as carets or brackets) for commands, and handwriting as input techniques. In one configuration, the input/output hardware consisted of a transparent digitizing tablet mounted on top of an LCD which allowed the user to interact with the program by writing on the tablet with a stylus. The experiments found that participants were faster with the gestural interface than with the keyboard or mouse/keyboard interface. In addition, subjects tended to prefer the gestural interface over the keyboard interface. Inexperienced mouse users also tended to prefer the gestural interface over the mouse/keyboard interface, although experienced mouse users preferred the mouse. The main difficulties with the gestural interf...

The Role of a Natural Language Conversational Interface in Online Sales: A Case Study

This paper describes the evaluation of a natural language dialog-based navigation system (HappyAssistant) that helps users access e-commerce sites to find relevant information about products and services. The prototype system leverages technologies in natural language processing and human-computer interaction to create a faster and more intuitive way of interacting with websites, especially for less experienced users. The result of a comparative study shows that users prefer the natural language-enabled navigation two to one over the menu driven navigation. In addition, the study confirmed the efficiency of using natural language dialog in terms of the number of clicks and the amount of time required to obtain the relevant information. In the case study, as compared to the menu driven system, the average number of clicks used in the natural language system was reduced by 63.2% and the average time was reduced by 33.3%.

Capturing what is needed in multi-user system design: observations from the design of three healthcare systems

The design of large-scale collaborative multi-user systems requires both a detailed understanding of the work of many individuals and an understanding of how the individual pieces fit together in the larger organizationalcontext, In order to manage the complexity of the design task, designers develop and use various representations of work practices which selectively include some details. but omit others. This paper presents some heuristics based on our experience in the design of three healthcare systems that can help designers in determining what information needs to be included in representations for the design of mu!tiuser systems., We present eight questions which can be used to capture important work practice information. Wc include a retrospective analysis of several design examples and suggest how the use of these questions can be integrated into design practice.

On-line run-on character recognizer : design and performance

A recognize-then-segment recognizer of unconstrained handprinting uses a unified tablet-display to provide a paper-like computer interface. Whereas most handwriting recognition systems segment and then recognize, this one recognizes and then finds the best segmentation. It classifies strokes, generates character hypotheses, and verifies hypotheses to estimate the optimal character sequence for each word of run-on handwritten characters. Linguistic constraints can limit the choices. The system is implemented on an IBM workstation, accepts run-on characters written on a tablet, and performs recognition in real time.