Natural Language Processing in Theoretical Application

Natural Language Processing in Theoretical Application

Abstract:

In this paper, I will be discussing the creation and implementation of a device that will utilize the concepts of natural language processing and apply it to everyday activities.

The device will be a carry-along unit that can be adapted to several devices a person would use everyday, like the car, items in the kitchen, and your computer. This device will be portable, compact, durable and adaptable. The device will not just adapt to any device however, the capability to interface with the device will have to be built into the objects that the device will interact with. I will discuss about this in length during the paper, as this will present the largest difficulty in making the device an actuality and usable.

Another aspect I will also talk about is training. No natural language processing system is perfect, actually none are. The user must be trained with the system and adapted to the system to really make it work. This will require technicians to not only train the user to use the device and adapt it to the user's products but also to provide constant technical support.

In this design a preset lexicon must be set to make this design plausible. I will relate how big this lexicon can be and how flexible future designs of this lexicon will appear.

I will also provide logical breakdowns of commands being used, with copious amounts of examples for several environments. I will also discuss where troubles could arise in the actual implementation of the product and what semantic flaws could occur with frequency.

Finally, I will discuss the feasibility of this design and whether the market and the technology are ready for this kind of attempt at natural language processing software integration.

Introduction

"The Jacques Box™ will knock your socks off! This revolutionary product will change the way humans use their everyday products forever. Want to change the radio station in your car without taking your eyes off the road? Wrist deep in cake batter and you need to preheat the oven? Tired of using the excuse that you've "only got two hands"? Well not anymore, with The Jacques Box™, you can now activate anything from your car, your computer or even your whole kitchen with just the sound of your voice."

Sounds good coming across the radio, or being offered for three easy payments of 149.99, but the reality of this is much further then the present. Natural Language Processing systems, while existent are heavily flawed and often proved useless. For example, the speech recognition process my phone uses is nice but ultimately useless. When it asks me what contact I am trying to call and I say the name, it has about a 20% success rate. That's no good. So for this idea to work serious continued effort must be applied to the Natural Language Processing aspects of the device.

The basic design of the device will be to take keywords and modifiers on those keywords to adjust the properties of the item the device is currently interacting with. Setting it up that way can keep our programming simple and reduce the amount of errors.

Locations

I will be taking a look at the three places described above: the car, the kitchen, and the home computer.

When a user enters the car he will place the device in its port just like he might place something in the cigarette lighter. The device will control several things in the car. First is the temperature. Using simple commands the temperature can be lowered or raised. Second is the radio and all the inherent functions within a radio: CD player, tuner, volume and even satellite. Third is the Cruise Control. This includes speeding up slowing down and coasting. Lastly might be any on board navigation systems.

There are many things in the kitchen that have the possibility of some form of automated control. Any controls associated with the microwave, its timing and power level would be controlled. The oven would also be controlled by voice, adjust settings like temperature, self-clean mode and preheat. Using other technologies in unison you could query your pantry and refrigerator for their contents. Tandem with your computer you could even order more of what you need over the internet from your local grocer.

The last possible location for the device's use is the home computer. Using the device you could open programs, send mail or even dictate a paper (I wish I had this product right now!) The computer would also be the place for tweaking the product and managing its impact and effects.

Installation and Management

The tough part about the concept of this model is the fact that all the items that it would be used with must already be tailored to the technology. The easiest way to adapt all of these would be to use Bluetooth technology. Most companies are probably not eager to sink capital into installing Bluetooth technology or any other kind of technology into an oven without first seeing some kind of need in the market. But let's ignore that for now.

The technology that will be installed into the different items to be controlled will not have to be complex. It just needs to be able to receive commands that would take over its manual operation. The real commands will be in the device and your home computer. For your car and your computer you would only need some kind of dock to provide interface for the device. The kitchen would need a different kind of interface that can control all the desired appliances to be controlled for one central place. There are two ways this could be done. First we could have the unit itself communicate directly with each item. This would impose some restrictions on the device. We would have to sacrifice the small size for that kind of direct control. This is undesirable. The second option is better. There will be a dock for the device that would be permanent and the device would relate to each appliance though it. The drawback is the cost of that extra component but that cost can be passed to the consumer and we can still keep the device to the smaller, portable size we are aiming for.

For the management of the device and its effect, installers will have to set the defaults on each setting. When a user finds they don't like how their commands are affecting the actions of the items, they can access a program on the computer that will list each action and tweak it just a bit. The dilemma here is to make sure a user will not adjust a setting to the point where it breaks