Speech Interaction with the Internet -- A User Study

The arrival of smart phones significantly impacts the automotive environment. People tend to use their mobile Internet connection manually while driving which distracts and endangers the driver's safety. In order to reduce driver distraction a speech based interface to Internet services is essential. However, before developing a speech dialog system in a new domain, a data collection from real users is needed. In this report, a web-based user study is conducted, which aims at getting knowledge about how users would interact with Internet services by speech. The user study was separated in a questionnaire and audio recordings based on graphically depicted scenarios the subjects had to solve orally. The results show that the users are willing to use and trust in speech dialog systems. The speaking styles occurring in the audio data were classified into natural, command and keyword style. The occurrence differed depending on the web task category whereas natural speaking style was most frequently used by the subjects.