Term: Fall 2000 Credit: 4-0-8 (H)
When: Th noon - 3pm
Where: E15-335
Timothy Bickmore
{justine,bickmore}@media.mit.edu
Much of interactive technology relies on some kind of communication between humans and machines. Human-computer communication is not for the most part single words yelled in an off-hand manner in the direction of a computer terminal, but more often kinds of conversations or dialogues. Increasingly, these human-computer communications have both task-oriented and socially-oriented functions (instructions, and also trust-building, small talk, politeness rituals), and both verbal and nonverbal aspects (speech, prosody, and also head nods, eye gaze, gesture).
In order to be effective designers of systems that communicate with humans (or systems that support humans communicating amongst themselves), we need to have a certain background in how the language of discourse functions. That is, how do we convey intention through language? How do we convey not just intention, but the finer points of style: something new, something relevant, something polite, something intimate? Why are some ways of putting things easier to understand than others? And, how do we structure interactions to take advantage of the design features of language (reference to things or people that aren't in the immediate environment, to things that don't exist), and of human bodies (the discourse functions of faces, hands, bodies)?
In this course we pair theory about how the language of discourse functions with computational work that relies on that theoretical foundation. The goal is to give students practice in how theory in this domain can be adapted and adopted in the design of innovative interactive technology. To this end, the student will engage in a increasingly complex set of design exercises based on the nitty-gritty fundamentals of discourse, and culminating in a project of the student's own design.
This year we will be concentrating in particular on language as social action -- how to do nice things with words / how to make relationships with words.
Requirements: Permission of instructor. Background in Linguistics AND/OR building interactive systems preferable.
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