LINGUIST List 7.993

Sun Jul 7 1996

Calls: Web site for LTRC'97,Nat. Lg in Human-Computer Interfaces

Editor for this issue: Ljuba Veselinova <lveselinemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. antony kunnan 10-07-92, Re: Web site for LTRC 97
2. Susan Haller, CFP ETCE-97

 Language Testing Research Colloquium, March 97
 Orlando, Florida: Call for Proposals

 In keeping with the most recent tradition of putting the
Call for Proposals on the Web, the LTRC 97 Orlando, Florida Call
for Proposals is now on the Web. The Web site is:

 http://web.calstatela.edu/academic/tesol/ltrc97/call.htm

When we are ready with conference and hotel registration, etc., we
will put those at this site too.


Antony Kunnan and Mary Spaan
Program Chairs
e-mail: akunnancalstatela.edu or mcspaanumich.edu

CALL FOR PAPERS

Energy Week Conference and Exhibition

Session on Natural Language in Human-Computer Interfaces

Houston, TX
January 28 - January 30, 1997

*----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Petroleum Division
is sponsoring the Energy Week Conference & Exhibition, at George
R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. One symposium is devoted
to various aspects of using computers in engineering. Attendees will
be from both academia and industry.

This year, one session of will consider the use of natural language in
human-computer interfaces. The value of being able to use natural
language to interact with computers is unquestioned. A natural
language interface is a flexible and efficient means of
communication. For example, a natural language interface for
processing speech provides an additional means of communication if a
human user's eyes and hands are occupied. Providing for dialogue,
whether typed or spoken, allows for humans to collaborate effectively
with computer systems that are becoming increasingly complex to use
because of their capabilities. For these reasons, a user interface
that can process natural language has the potential for simplifying an
overly complex and unfriendly working environment.

The diversity of natural applications is mirrored in the research
communities that contribute to natural language research: computer
science, engineering, medicine, geography, and business. The use of
natural language in interfaces to problem-solving systems such as
medical experts, software engineering tools, navigation tools, and
database systems is becoming an increasingly important consideration.

The aim of this session is to bring together researchers from two
communities:

 1. Researchers who are working on the design and/or implementation of
 systems that use natural language as a primary modality. Discussions
 should be relevant to engineering applications.
 2. Researchers who are working on software tools for engineering
 applications where a natural language interface is being, or could be
 used. Papers should indicate how natural language is useful or could be
 useful in these applications.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

 * Empirical studies in designing human-computer interfaces with natural
 language
 * Multimodal interface designs that include natural language
 * Use of natural language in computer-supported cooperative work
 * Discussions of implemented systems that employ natural language
 * Knowledge representation and reasoning to support natural language in
 human-computer interfaces and cooperative work systems
 * Speech recognition and synthesis in interface design
 * Limitations and pitfalls of relying on natural language as an interface

Papers submitted to this session should show how their work addresses
the issue of using natural language in the design of a human-computer
interface providing as much detail of the problem area as is necessary
to evaluate the work. Relevant examples of a system interacting with a
user (either on paper or video) are encouraged.

All presented papers will be published in the conference
proceedings. Please contact the session organizers if you have any
questions. We look forward to your contributions.

This call for papers is available as a web page:

http://cs.uwp.edu:80/staff/haller/Activities/etce97.html

SESSION ORGANIZERS:

Susan Haller

Computer Science and Engineering Department
University of Wisconsin -- Parkside

241 Molinaro Hall
Phone: 414-595-2343
E-mail: hallercs.uwp.edu

Syed Ali

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee

3200 N. Cramer Street
University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee
Phone: 414-962-8560
E-mail: syalitigger.cs.uwm.edu

SEND SUBMISSIONS TO:

Susan Haller
Computer Science and Engineering Dept.
University of Wisconsin - Parkside
Kenosha, WI 53141-2000
E-mail: hallercs.uwp.edu
Tel.: (414) 595-2343
FAX.: (414) 595-2114

*Note: We encourage electronic submissions, either plain text or postscript.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:

 * Paper Submission (maximum of 8 pages): September 15, 1996
 * Notification of acceptance: October 16, 1996
 * Camera-ready copies due: November 15, 1996
 * Energy Week Conference and Exhibition (Houston): Jan. 28 - Jan. 30,
 1997