Project B4
Characterization and Modelling of Information Seeking Dialogues

Topic

The interaction between user and Companion-System is one of the essential topics in the SFB Transregio 62. Consecutive interaction steps can be considered as dialogue between user and Companion-System. To achieve a positive user feedback during the dialogue, the companion characteristics individuality and flexibility have to be taken into account. A particular challenge are dialogue situations in which the usual dialog scheme is interrupted by a gap of information and both, the user and the Companion-System, have to close it.

The project investigates the information seeking dialogue with a special focus on exploratory search. In exploratory search, the user is usually not able to clearly specify the information need and iteratively refines it in an information seeking dialogue. During the dialogue the Companion-System should be able to adapt the user interface concerning the individual skills and conditions of the user. Currently there is a lack of a generally pattern based approach. The project is developing a model for characterization the information seeking dialogue considering information access tactics of the user, global and local structures of the dialogue and various information about the context.