Intelligent interface technology: from theory to reality?

The relationship between theory and practice is particularly important in I ntelligent Interface Technology as the ultimate proof of concept here is th at the interface actually works, and that it is acceptable to users. For th is reason practical issues such as performance, reliability and usability w ould seem to be more important than theoretical issues such as choice of sy stem design methodology or specification notations. This article reviews tw o important areas of Intelligent Interface Technology, user modelling and s poken dialogue systems, considering the potential contribution of Artificia l Intelligence research to the 'intelligent' components of this technology and examining the extent to which theoretical research in Artificial Intell igence contributes to the commercial deployability of Intelligent Interface Technology. It is concluded that, while theoretical foundations are necess ary to prevent ad hoc solutions that lack generalisability, practical const raints of performance and usability will constrain the applicability of the oretical research in real systems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.