Implicit User-Adaptive System Engagement in Speech, Pen and Multimodal Interfaces

Sharon Oviatt

Incaa Designs
821 Second Avenue, Suite 1100, Seattle, WA 98104, USA

The present research contributes new empirical research, theory, and
prototyping toward developing implicit user-adaptive techniques for system
engagement based exclusively on speech amplitude and pen pressure. The
results reveal that people will spontaneously adapt their communicative
energy level reliably, substantially, and in different modalities to
designate and repair an intended interlocutor in a computer-mediated group
setting. Furthermore, this sole behavior can be harnessed to achieve system
engagement accuracies in the 75-86% range. In short, there was a high level
of correct system engagement based exclusively on implicit cues in users'
energy level during communication.

Index Terms--
Adaptive systems, handwriting recognition, pressure effects, speech
recognition, user interface human factors.