Summary of the ARISE Project Findings

This document is a technical report summarizing the findings of the ARISE project, which focused on developing automatic railway information systems in Europe from October 1996 to December 1998. The project involved the creation and testing of four prototypes for train timetable information systems in Italian, French, and Dutch. The primary objective was to enhance the understanding of deploying spoken language dialogue systems for specific domains. The report details the challenges faced in speech recognition, dialogue management, and system evaluation, emphasizing the importance of addressing recognition errors and improving dialogue strategies. It outlines the functionalities of the developed systems, including their capabilities in providing timetable information and handling user interactions. The report also discusses various dialogue strategies employed across the systems, such as system-driven and mixed initiative approaches, and highlights the significance of confirmation strategies in ensuring effective communication between users and the systems.