Voice access of global information for broad-band wireless: technologies of today and challenges of tomorrow

The rapid development of the Internet and the World Wide Web has created a global network that will soon become a physical embodiment of the entire human knowledge and a complete integration of the global information activities. The traditional approach to access the network is through a computer physically tied to the network. As broad-band wireless takes off, the traditional tethered approach will gradually become obsolete. It is believed that one of the most natural and user-friendly approached for accessing the network will be via human voice, and the integration of spoken language processing technologies with broad-band wireless technologies will be a key to the evolution of a broad-band wireless information community. This paper offers a vision of the above concept. Technical considerations and some typical example applications of accessing the information and services using voice in a broad-band wireless environment are discussed. Fundamentals of spoken language processing technologies that are crucial in such a broad-band wireless environment are briefly reviewed. Technical challenges caused by the unique nature of wireless mobile communications are also presented along with some possible solutions.