The Human Factors of Speech-BasedInterfaces A ResearchAgenda James H. Bradford pces. This article outlines some of the characteristicsof speech technology that distinguish it ~om traditional interaction techniques. A number of human 3~ctors issues relating to speech will be discussed in the context of a proposed research agenda fbr speech-based interIntroduction a natural language such as spoken English (perhaps constrained by topic and restricted to simple grammatical structures). Both approaches pose difficulties for the user as well as the interface. Command Speech The use of spoken artificial commands amounts to the recognition of words in isolation. This is a diffficult problem even for human beings (humans can typically manage recognition rates a little over 97% for isolated words (Logan, etal., 1989) and the recognition process is greatly enhanced by the use of context (Grosjean, 1980)). Recognition rates for command speech can be improved by providing an artificial command context (this will be discussed in the section on dialog structure). There are several reasons why the recognition of words in isolation is difficult. These include interpersonal variability, intrapersonal variability as well as a number of differences between human and mechanical "hearing". People vary widely in the way they speak. Speech
/lp/association-for-computing-machinery/the-human-factors-of-speech-based-interfaces-a-research-agenda-kCA1lupEo3