The prospects for unrestricted speech input for TV content search

Abstract

The need for effective search for television content is growing as the number of choices for TV viewing and/or recording explodes. In this paper we describe a preliminary prototype of a multimodal Speech-In List-Out (SILO) interface in which users' input is unrestricted by vocabulary or grammar. We report on usability testing with a sample of six users. The prototype enables search through video content metadata download from an electronic program guide (EPG) service. Our setup for testing included adding a microphone to a TV remote control and running an application on a PC whose visual interface was displayed on a TV. ACM Advanced Visual Interfaces, May 2006This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. ABSTRACTThe need for effective search for television content is growing as the number of choices for TV viewing and/or recording explodes.In this paper we describe a preliminary prototype of a multimodal Speech-In List-Out (SILO) interface in which users' input is unrestricted by vocabulary or grammar. We report on usability testing with a sample of six users. The prototype enables search through video content metadata downloaded from an electronic program guide (EPG) service. Our setup for testing included adding a microphone to a TV remote control and running an application on a PC whose visual interface was displayed on a TV.

Multimedia Retrieval and Delivery: Essential Metadata Challenges and Standards

“…In this way, speech-based queries could be better matched with speech-based metadata that pertains to the content, which in our example would be restaurant names, menu items, information about ratings, etc. Similar challenges for search and retrieval of multimedia information as described in this example also exist in the mobile and television environments, e.g., see the work of Wittenburg, et al [39] on applying speech-based query to EPG search on the television. While the solutions may be different depending on the context and type of media to be consumed, it is necessary to identify common requirements for future metadata standards that enable richer forms of multimodal input, such as voice and gestures, to be used for multimedia information retrieval as illustrated in Fig.…”

TV Answers - Using the Wisdom of Crowds to Facilitate Searches with Rich Media Context

“…This is timeconsuming and complex for users. Emerging multimodal [10], gestural [11] and auxiliary [12] input interfaces show promise but currently address niche requirements and require more research before they can realistically match user expectations.…”

Multimodal Media Center Interface Based on Speech, Gestures and Haptic Feedback

“…After a large consumer survey [3], we have focused on developing a multimodal user interface for a media center. This application area is rapidly becoming popular in homes, and provides opportunities and challenges for user multimodal interaction [1,2]. Our media center provides users full control over digital television content, including an advanced electronic program guide (EPG).…”