Natural language processing for dynamic environments

For the operation of complex and dynamic systems, the design of the man-machine interface has a major impact on the acceptance by the user. The paper introduces a natural language processing software which transforms a natural language sentence into a series of commands for a virtual reality construction assistant. Both the language processor and the command set of the controller may be modified by the user to adapt it to different application areas. The language processor is based on a modified finite state transducer network. The grammar/word pattern extracted by the network is processed by a transformation module which converts the contained information into the controller command. A context memory and a question generator allow the processing of incomplete instructions and command modifications. A prototype application is presented which shows the integration of the speech engine into a client/server based virtual construction environment.