NOTE 31/10-03: The revised book version of my thesis is available by mail; send a request to me and I'll be happy to send you a copy.
The thesis shows how Questions Under Discussion, a concept from theoretical semantics, can be used as a basis for the implementation of a dialogue system, and how issues (modelled semantically as questions) in general can be used as a basis for issue-based dialogue processing. The implementation uses the TRINDIKIT, a toolkit for implementing and experimenting with Information States and Dialogue Move Engines (dialogue managers based on the concepts of dialogue moves and information states). Starting from a simple dialogue system illustrating issue-based dialogue management for what we (following Hulstijn) refer to as enquiry-oriented dialogue (e.g. database search dialogue), the thesis gradually develops both theory and implementation to also handle action-oriented and negotiative dialogue. Successive additions to the theoretical accounts and the implemented system are made, including grounding, acceptance, revision, question and task accommodation, and negotiation. Throughout, focus is placed on generality, modularity and domain-independence of dialogue theories, to achieve reusability and rapid prototyping abilities.
The thesis was publically defended on June 13, 2002 at 10.00 in Lilla Hörsalen, Humanisten, Göteborg University, Sweden.
Software:
TrindiKit3.0a is available for download under GPL (Gnu General Public License).
The IBiS systems is available on request for non-commercial purpouses. Please report any bugs you encounter to sl@ling.gu.se !
N.B. This software is not a supported commercial product and as such is provided without any warranty and without any guarantee of its usability. Neither shall we be held liable for any consequences that arise from IBiS or TrindiKit.