Mercurial > hip
annotate README @ 3:cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
| author | Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com> |
|---|---|
| date | Mon, 12 May 2008 13:53:10 -0700 |
| parents | 7c040d675c3c |
| children |
| rev | line source |
|---|---|
| 2 | 1 Humane Imperative Parser (HIP) |
| 2 | |
| 3 This is an interactive, primarily text-based command-line environment | |
| 4 in which users can enter information about an action they want to | |
| 5 perform, while receiving constant feedback from the interface to | |
| 6 ensure that the computer and user understand each other. | |
| 7 | |
| 8 The exact details of the environment are not set in stone; this could | |
| 9 be performed through ubiquitous quasimodal environment, as with Enso, | |
| 10 or it could be initiated from the URL bar of a web browser, a | |
| 11 contextual menu, or something else. The only elements required are: | |
| 12 | |
| 13 * a free-form text entry field, | |
| 14 * a suggestion pop-up window, | |
| 15 * a preview window that supports HTML content, and | |
| 16 * an optional current selection. | |
| 17 | |
| 18 Example commands that the user could enter include: | |
| 19 | |
| 20 "email A" such that A is a contact with an email address | |
| 21 | |
| 22 "fly from A to B" such that A and B are cities | |
| 23 | |
| 24 "fly to B from A" such that A and B are cities | |
| 25 | |
| 26 "fly from A to B on C" such that A and B are cities, C is an airline | |
| 27 | |
| 28 "fly on C from A to B" such that A and B are cities, C is an airline | |
| 29 | |
| 30 "fly here from A" such that "here" is the user's current selection | |
| 31 and A is a city. | |
| 32 | |
| 33 "reduce redeye in A" such that A is a picture | |
| 34 | |
| 35 "schedule 3pm dinner with bob tomorrow" | |
| 36 | |
| 37 "resize A to B" such that A and B are pictures | |
| 38 | |
| 39 "resize A to C" such that A is a picture and C is a dimension, and | |
| 40 a dimension is a number followed by "x" followed by a number | |
| 41 | |
| 42 Both of the "resize" statements may invoke methods on a "verb" | |
| 43 object, like so: | |
| 44 | |
| 45 resize_verb.preview(A, B, C) | |
| 46 | |
| 47 Returns HTML code for a "preview" of what the operation | |
| 48 will do, which is executed repeatedly after each | |
| 49 user input keystroke, starting from the point that it | |
| 50 is understood that "resize" is the verb to use (i.e., | |
| 51 once the user has typed in the string "resize "). | |
| 52 | |
| 53 resize_verb.execute(A, B, C) | |
| 54 | |
| 55 Actually executes the action. | |
| 56 | |
| 57 Other remarks: | |
| 58 | |
| 59 * Live feedback is key, so that the user knows what the computer | |
| 60 thinks he/she wants. This is the primary difference between the | |
| 61 HIP and existing linguistic parsers; the latter do not assume | |
| 62 continuous HC interaction during the creation of the statement. | |
| 63 | |
| 64 * Different suggestion lists may be used multiple times in the | |
| 65 creation of a statement. For instance, when a user is typing | |
| 66 "fly from chicago to san francisco", the suggestions "fly from" | |
| 67 and "fly to" may appear after the user has typed "fly"; once the | |
| 68 user has typed "fly from", there are no suggestions, but the preview | |
| 69 may tell to the user that they should enter the name of a city. | |
| 70 Once the user has typed "fly from c", a suggestion list that | |
| 71 includes a number of cities starting with "c" should show up. | |
| 72 | |
| 73 * Ambiguities are expected, and simply result in multiple options for | |
| 74 the user to choose from, but should hopefully be fairly uncommon. | |
| 75 | |
| 76 * Note that this is verb->noun. noun->verb is much harder b/c the | |
| 77 scope of possible options is enormous; specifying a verb first is | |
| 78 helpful because it specifies scope, which means that it's much | |
| 79 easier for the computer to help them out. | |
| 80 | |
|
3
cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
81 * it might be possible to do noun->verb in a limited fashion, if we |
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cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
82 have a very constrained scope for the initial noun; for instance, |
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cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
83 limiting it to very specific subset of options, e.g. dates, zip |
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cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
84 codes, phone numbers, other numerically identifiable things with |
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cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
85 very well-defined formats. |
| 2 | 86 |
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3
cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
87 * it may also be possible to do noun->verb if the scope starts out |
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cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
88 narrow and is expanded as the computer "learns" about what things |
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cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
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89 the user likes based on browsing history and command history. |
| 2 | 90 |
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3
cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
91 * The interface should be habit-forming, so we'll need to carefully |
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cf0f9e6d383d
Clarified some things in the README.
Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
parents:
2
diff
changeset
|
92 balance the dynamism of the system with its habituability. |