July 13 (title and abstract sent by email to pvc2-2019@computer.org)
July 20 (full manuscript submitted via https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pc-cs)
Publication date: April–June 2019
Speech recognition now “works.” There is a proliferation of conversational user interfaces and interactions, from speech-based agents such as Amazon Echo, Alexa, Cortana, and Google Home, to chat-bots in traditional messaging interfaces. These interfaces are hitting the mainstream and becoming pervasive in our daily lives. The expectations are that computer-based conversational systems will soon reach the level of human–human conversation. However, developing human–computer interactions with natural conversational characteristics is a big challenge. Conversational interfaces and interactions are very different from their graphical counterparts. Advances in natural and spoken language processing have given us powerful tools to handle spoken and typed words. Yet, using these tools to create natural conversational interfaces requires further advances in interface design, language technology, and tools for development and testing. In short, natural human conversation is a highly complex system.
This special issue explores the use of new models, technologies, methodologies, systems, and applications to realize successful conversational user interfaces and interactions. Contributions may come from diverse fields such as human–computer interaction; design; artificial intelligence and machine learning; speech recognition; psychology; linguistics; sociology; mobile, wearable, and ubiquitous computing; ambient intelligence; and arts and entertainment.
We welcome a wide range of research contributions including presentation of completed systems, experience reports, new insights into specific technologies, novel algorithms, surveys, design methodologies, and vision papers that articulate new challenges for conversational interfaces and interactions.
Relevant topics of this special issue include but are not limited to the following:
- Design and development of new conversational interfaces and interactions
- Usability issues of conversational interfaces
- Machine learning to support and advance conversational interfaces and interactions
- Design of natural human conversation and patterns that make these successful designs easier for other designers to replicate
- Conversational interfaces in cooperation with others
- Novel applications and services to foster successful conversational interfaces and interactions
- Platforms and tools to support the design, development, and deployment of conversational interfaces
- Analysis tools and techniques for the design of conversational interfaces and interactions, and underlying machine learning technologies
- Methods and frameworks to evaluate new technologies and systems for conversational interfaces and interactions
- Social and privacy issues to be considered when developing conversational interfaces, particularly in specific demographic groups such as children and the elderly
Guest Editors
- James Landay, Stanford University
- Junehwa Song, KAIST
- Nuria Oliver, Vodafone Research
For more information, contact the guest editors at pvc2-2019@computer.org
Submission Information
Submissions should be 4,000 to 6,000 words long and should follow the magazine’s guidelines on style and presentation. Authors are encouraged to submit supplemental materials, such as audio or video clips, to effectively share their insights and contributions as parts of their submission. For general author guidelines or submission details, see www.computer.org/pervasive/author.htm or email pervasive@computer.org.
To submit your article to our online peer review system, go to Manuscript Central at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pc-cs.
To present works-in-progress directly to the community, visit our Reddit community: www.reddit.com/r/pervasivecomputing.