The TravelLite System

Keith Matthews 40291202

Peter Logue 15037902

Aileen Maguire 40599003

Ciara Kelly 40600803

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Index

Index ..............................................................................................................................................................2

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................6

2. Background.............................................................................................................................................7

2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................7

2.2 How to communicate with computers .........................................................................................7

2.3 Why communicate?.....................................................................................................................7

2.3.1 Benefits of speech technologies ....................................................................................8

2.4 Existing Speech Technologies.....................................................................................................9

2.5 Challenges ...................................................................................................................................9

2.6 Summary ...................................................................................................................................10

3. Analysis & Specification ......................................................................................................................10

3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................10

3.2 Requirements Analysis..............................................................................................................11

3.2.1 Analysis of Similar Systems .......................................................................................11

3.2.2 Use-Case Analysis ......................................................................................................12

3.2.3 Spoken Language Requirements.................................................................................12

3.2.4 Functional Requirements ............................................................................................12

3.2.5 Non-Functional Requirements ....................................................................................13

3.2.6 Hardware Analysis......................................................................................................13

3.2.7 Software Analysis .......................................................................................................13

3.3 Development Methodology.......................................................................................................14

3.4 Summary ...................................................................................................................................14

4. Design...................................................................................................................................................14

4.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................14

4.2 TravelLite System Architecture ................................................................................................14

4.3 TravelLite System UML Modeling ...........................................................................................14

4.4 Automated Check-in System.....................................................................................................15

4.4.1 HCI guidelines ............................................................................................................15

4.4.2 Layout and Design ......................................................................................................15

4.4.3 Storyboards .................................................................................................................15

4.5 Summary ...................................................................................................................................15

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5. Implementation & Testing ....................................................................................................................15

5.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................15

5.2 Creating Database .....................................................................................................................16

5.2.1 ODBC Data Source Implementation...........................................................................16

5.3 Creating the Automated Check-in System ................................................................................16

5.3.1 Automated Check-in System HCI...............................................................................16

5.3.2 Obtaining Booking Reference Sub Dialogue ..............................................................17

5.3.3 Retrieve Booking Details ............................................................................................17

5.3.4 Obtaining Photographic ID Sub Dialogue ..................................................................17

5.3.5 Obtaining Flight Information Sub Dialogue ...............................................................17

5.3.6 Conducting Security Questions Sub Dialogue ............................................................17

5.3.7 Obtaining Baggage Details Sub Dialogue...................................................................18

5.3.8 Provide Gate Details Sub Dialogue.............................................................................18

5.3.9 Perform Promotional Activities Sub Dialogue............................................................18

5.3.10 Appendix: Update Booking Information to the Database ...........................................18

5.4 Summary ...................................................................................................................................18

6. Critical Analysis ...................................................................................................................................18

6.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................18

6.2 Critical Analysis of CSLU Toolkit............................................................................................18

6.3 Future Work ..............................................................................................................................19

6.3.1 Pronunciation Dictionaries..........................................................................................19

6.3.2 Alternatives to Speech ................................................................................................19

6.3.3 Virtual Assistant..........................................................................................................20

6.3.4 Using Emotions...........................................................................................................20

6.3.5 Live RSS Feeds...........................................................................................................20

6.4 Summary ...................................................................................................................................20

7. Appendices ...........................................................................................................................................22

7.1 Appendix: UML: Potential Object List .....................................................................................22

7.2 Appendix: UML: Use-Case Model ...........................................................................................24

7.3 Appendix: UML: Class Diagram ..............................................................................................25

7.4 Appendix: UML: Passenger State Diagram ..............................................................................26

7.5 Appendix: UML: Automated Check-in System State Diagram ................................................26

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7.6 Appendix: UML: Online Booking System State Diagram........................................................27

7.7 Appendix: UML: Database State Diagram................................................................................27

7.8 Appendix: UML: Airport State Diagram ..................................................................................27

7.9 Appendix: UML: Sequence Diagram........................................................................................28

7.10 Appendix Sony VAIO VGN-FS515B Technical Specification ................................................28

7.11 Appendix: TravelLite System Architecture...............................................................................29

7.12 TravelLite Database Design ......................................................................................................30

7.12.1 ODBC Data Source Implementation...........................................................................30

7.13 Appendix: Automated Check-in System Graphical User Interface...........................................31

7.14 Appendix: Automated Check-in System: CSLU Canvas Design..............................................32

7.15 Appendix: Obtain Booking Reference Sub Dialogue (buttons) ................................................33

7.16 Obtain Booking Reference (voice recognition).........................................................................34

7.17 Appendix: Obtain Photographic ID Sub Dialogue ....................................................................34

7.18 Appendix: Obtain Flight Information Sub Dialogue .................................................................36

7.19 Appendix: Retrieve Booking Information from Database.........................................................37

7.20 Appendix: Security Questions Sub Dialogue ............................................................................38

7.21 Appendix: Obtain Baggage Sub Dialogue ................................................................................39

7.22 Appendix: Gate Sub Dialogue...................................................................................................41

7.23 Appendix: Promotions Sub Dialogue........................................................................................42

7.24 Appendix: Update the Database ................................................................................................43

7.25 Appendix: Pronunciation Dictionaries ......................................................................................43

7.26 Appendix: Happy Emotion........................................................................................................44

7.27 Appendix: Smartakas ................................................................................................................44

7.28 Appendix: Story Boards ............................................................................................................45

7.29 Appendix UML: Automated Check-in System Conversational Use-Case Diagram .................49

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7.30 Appendix: Further Details on HCI Guidelines ..........................................................................51

7.31 Appendix: Easyjet HCI .............................................................................................................52

7.31.1 Instructing the passenger to enter credit card..............................................................53

7.31.2 Instructing passenger to enter baggage number ..........................................................53

7.31.3 Security section of the GUI.........................................................................................53

7.31.4 More security questions ..............................................................................................54

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7.31.5 Printing boarding and baggage cards ..........................................................................54

7.31.6 Final Check-in Stage...................................................................................................55

References....................................................................................................................................................56

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1. Introduction

TravelLite is a new low cost air carrier which is trying to gain market share against the well established budget airlines such as Easyjet, Ryan Air and Jet2. The competition in this market is fierce. Customers now demand not only low prices but also a high level of service. TravelLite operates a similar pricing strategy as its competitors. However, the company is still making a loss. To combat losses senior management have been forced to implement a new innovative strategy to survive. They have decided to invest in new technology to make their brand uniquely distinguishable from its competitors. It is hoped this investment will actually lower overheads in the long-term and will generate brand awareness and encourage repeat purchases. The majority of airlines in this market still famously operate with a traditional transactional marketing approach. They have little interest beyond a point of sale and there is minimal attention on customer service. This approach allows the companies to maintain their profits as their charges are low and attractive. The purchase of an air fare is not an every day necessity for the majority of customers and this allows the focus to remain purely transactional. However, this could be a potentially dangerous marketing strategy to follow as global warming is fast becoming an area of grave concern and with low cost air travel being at the forefront of the debate i.e. it is thought to be the main contributor to the problem, these companies may face government fines in the future which could lead to a rise in fares and a drop in demand for the service as it becomes less affordable. Failure to address relationship marketing means these companies may struggle to survive. As more people now own property abroad and holidays are more affordable, travelling between countries is frequent and ever increasing. The purchase of an air fare is now a necessity for many individuals and with the existing competition it is becoming ever apparent that the bargaining power lies with the customer. TravelLite management predicts that organisations in this market will be forced to adopt a relationship approach if they want to survive. They are hoping that this investment will take advantage of new technology to not only lower overhead costs but actually increase customer satisfaction by building solid relationships with customers, technology being the enabler of this process. TravelLite wants to move towards a fully automated system starting at the point of sale to the check-in process. This ambitious plan will lower long-term costs for the business. This new system will only accept online booking using a secure online booking sales system. Research has shown that most bookings are in fact made online. When booking online, the customer will receive a booking reference. The customer must communicate this booking reference to an automated check in system at the airport. This automated check-in system will perform all the normal tasks of a person but will be designed specifically to implement relationship marketing. This system will not simply check the passenger in, but will: welcome passengers back to the airline if they are returning customers, give passengers information on their destination i.e. weather, currency, topical news items, communicate to the passengers whether flights are on time, communicate to the passengers which gate their flight it departing, possibly perform marketing tasks i.e. questionnaires and possibly offer a free drink at the departure lounge, etc. This system will be designed to go above and beyond what normal check-in assistance would be expected to do in order to increase customer satisfaction. The savings generated from this system combined with a higher level of repeat purchases is hoped will allow the airline to turn losses into profit. This initiative is not without risk, central to the whole process will be successfully implementing a robust check-in system that is intelligent enough to perform the tasks of a person whilst at the same time increasing customer satisfaction. The airline plans to minimize this risk by phasing the system in over a period of one year, offering substantial cash discounts for customers who book and check in using their new automated system. It is hoped that cash discounts will act as a sufficient incentive to persuade customers to try their new system. During this initial start-up period the system can be thoroughly tested and then a decision can be made as to whether the new system is deemed is a viable option for replacing the current system. There is a time situation as other competitors are entering the market and several well established airlines are researching similar technologies. The aim of this project is to design and build a working prototype demonstration of an Automated Check-in System. This project will allow an application to be rapidly developed to meet the immediate need of producing a prototype quickly and will also help to identify further requirements.

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2. Background

2.1 Introduction

The purpose of this background section is to provide a detailed overview of speech technology. Section 2.2 provides a detailed overview of how people can communicate with computers, there are various ways and means of doing this which are thoroughly described in section 2.2. There is also a section dedicated to providing the benefits of communicating with computers and why it so important, various factors make it vital for users to be able to communicate with a computer these factors are covered in greater detail in section 2.3. Furthermore there are a number of benefits of speech technologies that are recognized including existing technologies that exist. These can be found in sections 2.3.1 and 2.4. Finally the challenges that speech technologies face are listed including a summary of the background of chapter 2.

2.2 How to communicate with computers

There are various ways and methods that people can use in order to successfully communicate with a computer. Common techniques include the use of a PC and headset. A user can speak into a headset, the headset is connected to a soundcard within the PC; this input is then used by the PC to create a desired output. Another simple technique is the use of a telephone; further advanced technologies permit speakers and microphones to be embedded within computers. As well as computers, speakers and microphones can also be embedded into various other appliances such as car dashboards through the use of wireless technologies that are becoming increasingly more common. An example of a wireless technology that is becoming more popular is Bluetooth technology. Most mobile phones have the facility embedded in their phones which allows photos, videos, music etc to be transferred from phone to phone free of charge. There are various companies that specialize in embedded computer technology. Sensory Inc is a company that designed a wide range of products that allow users to control various appliances through the use of speech, these appliances react to speech and furthermore the appliance creates a response to the speech. “Sensory’s flagship RSC line of low-cost speech chips perform speech recognition, speech and music synthesis, speaker verification, and general purpose

microcontroller functions” (Sensory, 2007). Though the use of integrated circuits (ICs) and embedded software, Sensory Inc use their wireless technology in electrics, mobile phones, personal data assistants (PDAs), internet, cars etc. SmartKom is one of the first projects to incorporate this logic into software; this is a further example of a company that uses this embedded technology. SmartKom allows the use of switching technology which allows users to switch between devices; this enables their virtual assistant Smartakus to help users. These simple applications that use embedded technology also use speech technology component capturing to “capture the acoustic signal that represents what the user has said, and translating it into a digital

code or electronic signal to perform functions such as light control or opening and closing doors”

(McTear, 2004). Embedded technology is an active research area, examples of further companies that specialize in the area include: UBM, Scansoft, Nuance etc.

2.3 Why communicate?

There are many important factors that make it vital for users to be able to communicate with a computer; these include controlling devices, data entry, data retrieval, dictation, a virtual assistant and Dialogue within a computer. Using speech with computers can be used for a number of purposes. For e.g. HAL (Home automated living) this system allows a user to control home devices such as lighting and thermostats. Controlling devices is a common function that enables us to communicate with a computer. Controlling devices can also be termed as ‘Command and control’, this involves the use of speech to control different types of equipment and appliances for e.g. machinery, computers etc. Control and command is best used for ‘hands busy’ situations, this occurs when a user cannot use their hands to control equipment as they are otherwise engaged with another task. For e.g. hands free kit within a car is designed for users to talk and drive at the same time. Control and command produces various benefits for users with disabilities for e.g. speech recognition is useful for blind users. A lot of these command and control applications can only understand a very small vocabulary which is required to control the equipment. For e.g. equipment designed to control a lighting system may only understand commands such as on/off or dim. More complex command structures can include sentence structure for

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e.g. open the door at 2am. This type of command associates itself with a particular action. However alternative words and phrases increase the complexity of the task. All possible solutions have to be identified; this can seem unmanageable due to a wide range of possible alternatives. A system that covers a wide range of actions would need to include a number of ways of saying the same thing. A further factor that is important is data entry, this is basically using speech to input data into a computers software program. A range of data entry applications include the use of a range of defined data entry variables that are then entered into a software program. Examples of these applications include equipment maintenance, package sorting, traffic accident reports etc. Most data entry applications involve the use of a specific vocabulary for e.g. switching on a light which was discussed earlier can have a few specific commands such as ‘on’ ‘off’ or ‘dim’. Data retrieval is another vital factor which makes it most important for users to communicate with computers. In today’s society there is currently a wide range of technologies that enable users to obtain information through the use of speech-based technologies. Examples include weather reports, share prices etc. These types of data retrieval systems again require vocabularies that take into consideration all the names and contents of the specific database field. Furthermore dictation consists of translating speech into a written format automatically. Dictation allows the users input to be converted into text whilst ignoring the true meaning of the text; therefore if the user speaks nonsense, nonsense will be produced in text form. Dictation involves a much broader vocabulary in comparison to data retrieval as there is no Dialogue within the system. Dictation consists of broad vocabularies, the larger it is, the less chance the system will come across an unknown word. Furthermore a virtual assistant is another method commonly used to communicate. SmartKom used a virtual assistant called Smartakus which is visualised as a life like character; it accesses various IT services on behalf of the user, comprises the results and presents them back to the user. Using a virtual assistant incorporates the collection of a wide range of data sources. Smartakus the virtual assistant is used across a wide range of multi-modal platforms which includes a mobile (handheld communication assistant), SmartKom home/office (multimodal portal to information systems) and also SmartKom public (multimodal information kiosk). Finally Dialogue with a computer is an important method of communication. Simple applications within a system can understand simple Dialogue such as on/off, the system then corresponds to the command. In other cases an extended Dialogue is used for e.g. TravelLite’s system. The Automated Check-in System requires a number of destinations, departures, time of travel, whether the customer is an existing one, promotional offers etc. A complex system such as an Automated Check-in System can prove more difficult in comparison to simple applications. A number of problems may arise such as new utterances stated by the user or mishearing of the system, therefore it is necessary that the system can cope with these errors.

2.3.1 Benefits of speech technologies

Speech technologies provide a wide range of benefits for individuals and companies alike. They can be used to take the place of humans for a number of purposes. As discussed earlier, a common use of speech technologies is data retrieval. Currently speech technologies are used to provide travel information such as, train timetables, flight schedules, ferry schedules etc. further services provided by speech technologies include weather forecasts, stock prices and directory enquiries. Speech technologies are also designed to fulfill problem solving applications. For e.g. Sky TV currently use this method on their telephone system when dealing with common faults, when reporting a fault on sky, you call the customer service team and an automated system tries to help you with your enquiry before passing the enquiry onto a trained advisor. This currently saves on call handling times within the call centre and staffing costs. Further use of speech technologies are educational applications. Speech toolkits can be used for a range of educational purposes to help disabled children. These toolkits can be used to help deaf children learn pronunciation and also helps develop applications for children with autism. Speech technologies will provide a benefit for the Automated Check-in System. This Automated Check-in System will be designed to replace the use of staff. The system will check-in travelers, assist with luggage, communicate promotions and aim to develop relationships with their customers by communicating a relationship marketing strategy. A major benefit of this system is cost savings. This new Automated Check-in System will be designed to cut costs in the long-term. By implementing this new system full time, users must book their cheap airfares online therefore booking staff is kept to a minimum as the system becomes fully automated. The Automated Check-in System will be situated in all airports that TravelLite currently operates. The Automated Check-in System will be designed to take over the role of the regular check in assistant that other airlines use. The aim is to cut costs in the long term by using this system full-time to assist

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customers through all aspects of their check-in procedure; this results in overheads being cut in the long term, therefore TravelLite hopefully will never have to pay airport staff a salary again. Furthermore this system is built to operate a relationship marketing approach to all its customers therefore, this further relationship building will hopefully lead to a successful strategy for repeat purchases resulting in further business from existing customers.

2.4 Existing Speech Technologies

There are currently a wide range of speech technologies that are operating in today’s society with succession. VoiceXML is “a makeup language for speech, is standard being pushed by the VoiceXML the internet via a phone, whether wired or not” (Laynetworks, 2007). VoiceXML is a relatively new language that combines the telephone with the web. Developments in XML allow users to gain information on the web through the use of speech rather than the old method of GUIs (graphical user interface). SALT is another existing speech technology that was founded in 2001. SALT enables multimodal and telephone access to applications and the web in order to gain information. “The Speech Application Language Tags extend existing mark-up languages such as HTML, XHTML, and

XML” (Saltforum, 2007). Users will now be able to interact with their desired application through various methods including speech, audio, mouse, keyboard etc. IBM currently has their own speech technology. They have a wide range of speech technologies, examples include IBM embedded via voice enterprise edition, IBM embedded via voice multiplatform edition etc. The various products on offer allow users of telephones and wireless technologies to “conduct business transactions or access information simply by speaking” (IBM, 2007). Scansoft also have a wide range of speech technologies suited to different types of users with different requirements; there are a number of speech solutions on offer by the company which include nuance speech solutions which are used for telephone services for e.g. directory enquiries. Furthermore a range of healthcare solutions, natural speaking solutions and imaging solutions are also offered by the company. Finally Xbernault is another example of a company that currently offers speech technologies. “Xbernault Corporation is a leading provider of wearable/ mobile computing hardware, software and

services, bringing communications and full-function computing power in a hands-free design to people

when and where they need it” (Xybernaut, 2007). Xbernault offer a range of speech technologies for mobile products and service and also various industry solutions. Mobile product and services include atigo product platform which is a wireless web tablet, mobile assistant wearable computer and consulting and development services, which aims to improve human performance with the provision of customised enterprise solutions. Their industry solutions aim to customise applications for various industries in order to maximise the return on their investments. Industries include transportation/aerospace, retail, healthcare/education, telecommunications/media, hospitality and government/military.

2.5 Challenges

Within Speech technology there are a few challenges to overcome, technological challenges such as imperfections and unrealistic expectations from the user of the system, where users may expect more from it. A great challenge within speech technology is to try and convince users that the technology will work at all times under any circumstances. Speech technologies may also occur where imperfections occur, such as where the speech recognition component within the system may not recognise certain words and where the correction of errors can lead to error amplification which will always be a challenge for designers to overcome. Challenges will also occur within traditional web interfaces based in graphical user interfaces that display information in graphical tabular form, which can be difficult to translate into speech; here long lists that can be easily scanned in visual interfaces are difficult to process in auditing mode. Using speech technology is a challenge as speech is transient, which results in long periods of listening that can levy human short-term memory; users may forget what they have heard, also the use of speech would not be appropriate to use in an environment where privacy is required or within a noisy area which would make it difficult for the user to listen and hear sound, resulting in problems being caused in speech recognition.

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The output of speech recognition can also incur some challenges, these challenges include, synthesis errors, where the system pronounces an unfamiliar name incorrectly, or mispronounces words that are homophones (words with the same spelling but different pronunciations). Problems relating to this also can be where users inputting may have strong regional or non-native accents, speech impediments or where they use slang or casual wording, the system may not recognise or be able to identify and recognise what the user is saying. Users expectations of the output of speech technology is also a major challenge, as they can be too high, for example; users may expect the system to perform the same functions which they have viewed in fiction films on the television or movies. Overall it is a major challenge for designers of Speech Technology, to produce systems that enable users to interact appropriately and efficiently with the system in a natural way without lengthy instructions and training

2.6 Summary

Speech technology is becoming increasingly important in everyday life. They are various ways and means of using speech technology to communicate with computers; new wireless technology is succeeding to be the most advanced method. Common everyday use includes hands free kits or Bluetooth technology which is often used in mobile phone technology. There are many important factors that make it vital for users to successfully communicate with a computer. A number of controlling devices make this possible for e.g. a virtual assistant. TravelLite have incorporated a virtual assistant into their company to induce a relationship marketing approach whereby a virtual check in assistant provides an automated checking system. There are further examples of a number of different controlling devices that can be used to communicate with a computer; these are heavily detailed in section 1.3. SmartKom also uses a virtual assistant called Smartakus which is similar to the virtual check in assistant, Smartakus is visualised as a life-like character similar to the TravelLite system. Furthermore speech technologies provides a wide range of benefits, the TravelLite check in system provides a number of benefits to the company in the long term, the main benefit is the cost savings by incorporating the system; furthermore a relationship marketing strategy aims to develop client relationships with customers which hopefully results in repeat purchases of flights. As time goes by, speech technology keeps developing. There is now a huge range of existing speech technologies; examples include VoiceXML, SALT, IBM speech technology, Scansoft and Xbernault. All these technologies are specialised for different types of users, these are further defined in section 1.4. As technology improves and develops, so does the number of challenges, one of the greatest challenges is convincing users that technology will work at all times under any circumstances, this is highly unlikely. Overall speech technology is becoming more commonly used. Developments have helped disabled users develop more quickly and have provided a number of learning tools to assist the user. It is vital that speech technologies are investigated when studying the computer industry as a whole. Various factors make it difficult to develop speech technologies due to inconsistencies in speech from different users however there is heavy investment in the industry and vast improvements are being made to overcome these difficulties.

3. Analysis & Specification

3.1 Introduction

This chapter outlines the objectives of the project. A problem statement will be analysed in order to define the requirements of the project. Through Requirement Engineering, Software Requirements, Hardware Requirements, Functional and Non-Functional Requirements will be established. The services that the system must perform and the constraints under which it operates will be identified. Unified Modelling Language (UML) Use-Case models will be used to visually depict the external behaviour of the system. This model will detail the role and function of the system, user profiles and usage patterns. Through Spoken Language Requirement Engineering, interaction patterns, grammars and the required vocabulary will be defined. The chapter will conclude by addressing the development methodology that will be adopted for the TravelLite project in order to provide a working prototype.

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3.2 Requirements Analysis

TravelLite requires an advanced booking and checking-in system. This system must function as a fully automated system with no manual interaction. Although the aim of this project is solely to design and build a working prototype demonstration of the Automated Check-in System, the entire TravelLite System will be considered in order to more fully identify all the services that this sub-system must perform and the constraints under which it operates. The booking and boarding processes will be handled by two separate systems. This booking system will only accept online booking using a secure online booking sales system. The customer may check-in online or at the airport. Factors which have to be taken into account when checking-in are:

� Check-in desks close exactly 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of each flight (TravelLite recommends checking-in two hours before departure).

� Passengers who check in late will not be allowed to board the flight and will lose their seat (no refunds will be given).

� Passengers must provide valid photographic ID at check-in on all flights, including domestic flights.

� Passenger must provide their booking reference when checking in. � Passengers will be issued with a boarding pass during check-in. These are numbered

sequentially. These specify the order in which passengers will board the aircraft. Boarding numbers are not used, as seat numbers as TravelLite operates an open seating policy.

� If passengers require assistance getting to the gate, the check-in system will make the necessary arrangements. Passengers are recommended to check-in at least 90 minutes before the departure of their flight to minimise any possible delays.

� Arrangements will be made for passengers who require assistance to be pre-boarded in advance so that the cabin crew can demonstrate the safety procedures onboard the aircraft.

� Passengers who check in online must print their boarding pass after making their booking (from 60 days before they travel and until three hours before to the scheduled departure time of their flight).

� Passengers who check in online must then go straight to security desk when arriving at the airport where airport staff will check their passport and other travel documents.

� Passengers who arrive at the gate later than 25 minutes before the scheduled time of departure will not be accepted for travel and will lose their seats (no refunds).

� Checking-in online means that passengers may only take one piece of hand luggage. If they decide to take hold luggage, they must use the automated check-in system and will receive a new boarding card.

Factors which have to be taken into account when booking are: � Passengers must buy flight tickets over the Internet by using a secure online booking system.

The booking process is fast, easy and secure. � When booking online passengers will receive a booking reference. � Passenger details are stored in a database. � Passengers booking through this system receive a discount of £10 on each round trip. � Passengers booking through this system must register as a member. As part of this process

passengers will need to submit an email address and a password. � This information will allow passengers to access details of their booking at a later stage.

3.2.1 Analysis of Similar Systems

More and more airlines are increasingly adapting the new technology that enables passengers to check in through the use of kiosks. One airline in particular who use kiosks within their airports to replace traditional check in desks is the airline company Easyjet limited, based in London they operate scheduled services for leisure and business passengers and serve 289 routes between 79 European airports. Easyjet checks in facilities are similar to that of the TravelLite System as it has similar functions, inputs and outputs. The process of using Easyjet’s kiosk, involves:

• Any kiosk can be used within the airport and check in is made available two hours prior to the flight and closes thirty minutes before.

• The GUI of the Kiosk is touch screen to enable passengers to identify flights and to retrieve individual bookings, a feature that ‘TravelLite’ also has.

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• Touch screens are used to answer standard ‘Department of Transport, security questions, this is also implemented within the TravelLite System.

• The kiosk prints out boarding cards for the passenger, this is a function that ‘TravelLite’ does not currently have, but could be an added feature.

• When the passenger has only hand luggage, they may proceed through security to the departure lounge.

• Where the passenger has luggage, the kiosk will print a standard airline industry baggage tag, a feature not implemented within the TravelLite System.

When checking in using Easyjet’s kiosk, alongside the passengers passport, other forms of ID is required including; credit card details this is a great method as the kiosk provides a slot where the credit card can be inserted, a function which TravelLite does not currently have, post code or booking reference can also be used. Within the TravelLite System only the passport and booking reference number is required (See Appendix 7.31 for a comparison of the Easyjet Automated Check-in System against the proposed TravelLite Automated Check-in System). The ‘Easyjet’ and ‘TravelLite’ systems are quite similar in comparison. Each carries out the same sequence of activities that occur when checking in any airport. However one key feature which makes the system ‘TravelLite’ more beneficial from that of ‘Easyjet’ is that is has speech recognition. The system interacts via sound with the passenger, where the passenger can also input through speech. This is a great advantage as it caters for a wider audience of passengers. ‘Easyjet’s’ Kiosk cannot be used by those who are blind or have poor eyesight, whereas having an option of either inputting through touch or speech like ‘TravelLite’ will suit those with eyesight and hearing difficulties.

3.2.2 Use-Case Analysis

Alexander (Alexander, 2006) details the purpose of using Use-Case Models by explaining “Use Cases divide up the problem into bite-sized chunks which everybody can understand, especially those people

who are experts in the domain but who may not be expert in requirements engineering” Within the TravelLite System five actors have been identified. They are as follows the Passenger, the Online Booking System, the Automated Check-in System, the Database and the Airport. A passenger will purchase a flight using the online booking system. The passenger will then use their booking reference to check-in for their flight. Two methods of checking-in exist: online and at the airport. Passenger details will be stored in a database. This automated check-in system will not simply check the passengers in, but will: welcome passengers back to the airline if they are returning customers and gives passengers information on their destination i.e. weather, currency, topical news items. This automated check-in system will communicate to the passengers whether flights are on time, communicates to the passengers which gate their flight is departing, possibly perform marketing tasks i.e. questionnaires and give details of promotions, etc. This system will be designed go above and beyond what a normal check-in assistance would be expected to do in order to increase customer satisfaction. This automated check-in system will be accessible 24 hours a day and will reside at a fixed location within the airport.

3.2.3 Spoken Language Requirements

The spoken language requirements of the Automated Check-in System include the vocabulary, grammars and interaction patterns. These requirements have been determined by studying similar systems. Knowledge of these requirements will help to determine a suitable development package to use to build the system. The focus of the Automated Check-in System in terms of speech understanding will be centered on key word spotting, i.e. the system will not have to understand continuous speech.

3.2.4 Functional Requirements

� The Automated Check-in System will open exactly 180 minutes before the scheduled departure of each flight.

� The Automated Check-in System will close exactly 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of each flight.

� The Automated Check-in System will not permit passengers to check in late.

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� The Automated Check-in System will ensure each booking provides a booking reference when checking in.

� The Automated Check-in System will retrieve booking, flight and member details from the TravelLite Database.

� The Automated Check-in System will check that a particular booking reference has not already checked in.

� The Automated Check-in System will confirm the booking party and if required alter booking party.

� The Automated Check-in System will ensure each passenger provides valid photographic ID on all flights.

� The Automated Check-in System will scan each passenger passport. � The Automated Check-in System will advise the passenger of any delays. � The Automated Check-in System will permit the booking party to return at a later time if the

flight is delayed by over 120 minutes. � The Automated Check-in System will provide the passenger will information on the

destination such as the temperature, exchange rate and a topical news item. � The Automated Check-in System will ask the passengers a series of security questions. If any

of these questions are answered incorrectly, the Automated Check-in System will request the check-in process is completed at the airport security desk.

� The Automated Check-in System will obtain the number of hold luggage items to be checked in (a maximum of six hold items).

� The Automated Check-in System will issue boarding passes from a ticket dispenser to each passenger.

� The Automated Check-in System will make the necessary arrangements for passengers who require pre-boarded assistance.

� The Automated Check-in System will direct the booking party to the correct departure gate. � The Automated Check-in System will provide details of any promotions the passenger may be

eligible to receive. � The Automated Check-in System will save the booking details back to the TravelLite

Database.

3.2.5 Non-Functional Requirements

� The Automated Check-in System will be easy to use. The application must be clearly laid out and transparent. Best practices of design will be implemented.

� The Automated Check-in System will be intuitive to use. Users of the system must be able to learn how to use product quickly with ease.

� The Automated Check-in System will be aesthetically pleasing. � The Automated Check-in System will be designed as simply as possible, there is no need for a

complex design. � The Automated Check-in System must be robust and reliable.

3.2.6 Hardware Analysis

Ideally a System such as TravelLite would employ some form of web based Client/Server architecture such as the Microsoft .Net or Sun Micro Systems J2EE development platforms. For the purpose of the this project, which is simply a demonstration of the technology, a working prototype of the Automated Check-in System will be developed on a Sony VAIO VGN-FS515B notebook with the following technical specification: (See Appendix 7.10)

3.2.7 Software Analysis

For the purpose of the TravelLite project which is simply a demonstration of the technology, the CSLU Toolkit be used to rapidly develop a working prototype. The CSLU provides the basic framework and tools to build, explore and use interactive language systems. The CSLU Toolkit is free for download. It consists of different features that join to create a package that allows a developer to create speech Dialogue interfaces. The toolkit incorporates pioneering speech recognition, speech synthesis and facial animation technologies. It provides a powerful and flexible environment for building interactive language systems. The CSLU toolkit is classed as Rapid Application Development (RAD) tool. RAD

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software speeds up the development of applications, providing a number of features to help build interfaces that would normally take a long time. The Tool Command Language (TCL) is used within the CSLU toolkit to facilitate the writing, debugging and alteration of the toolkits core functionalities. This package should fit the needs of the project very well as the CSLU will allow a prototype to be developed very quickly in order to allow a decision to be made as to whether the new system is deemed as a viable option for replacing the current system.

3.3 Development Methodology

The software process is a structured set of required activities e.g. requirements analysis & specification, design, implementation, testing and evolution. Activities vary depending on the type of system being developed. There are number of system development lifecycles suitable for this project including: The Waterfall Model, The V Model, The Spiral Model or an Incremental and Iterative Model. For the purpose of this project, which is simply to provide a prototype demonstration, an incremental software process will be used where an initial implementation will be developed and refined over several versions until a final working system is developed. An evolutionary process will allow for an application to be rapidly developed to meet the immediate need of producing a prototype quickly and will also help to identify further requirements.

3.4 Summary

From the problem statement analysed in this chapter, the User Requirements, Software Requirements, Hardware Requirements have been defined. A precise set of Functional and Non-Functional Requirements has been established. The services that the system must perform and the constraints under which it operates have been identified. UML Use-Case models have identified five actors within the system, the Passenger, the Online Booking System, the Automated Check-in System, the Database and the Airport. For the purpose of the TravelLite project, which is simply to provide a prototype demonstration, an incremental software process will be used where an initial implementation will be developed and refined over several versions until a final working system is developed.

4. Design

4.1 Introduction

This sections aims to further analyse and design the system using UML. This is an object-oriented approach to system development that is based on the concept of individual objects existing within a system’s environment. This section will decompose all of the systems parts into sub-systems in order to establish the systems architecture. UML will be used to identify classes from the problem statement, create class diagrams and model the dynamic behaviour of the system using state diagrams and a sequence diagram. Finally, UML will be used to model the static behaviour of the Automated Check-in System using a Use-Case Model.

4.2 TravelLite System Architecture

With the TravelLite System it is necessary to decompose all the systems parts into sub-systems that carry out the processes that the system must perform. A framework identifying these sub-systems must be designed and implemented. Through careful Requirements Engineering the primary sub-systems of the larger TravelLite System have been identified as follows: the Passenger, the Airport, the Online-Booking System, the Automated Check-in System and the Database. Each subsystem provides a service to the system as a whole, which in turns makes up the complete system. Appendix 7.11 illustrates a useful architectural representation of the TravelLite System in its entirely omitting low level details.

4.3 TravelLite System UML Modeling

In order to design and build a working prototype demonstration of the Automated Check-in System, the dynamic behaviour of this sub-system, its major components and how they communicate with other

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sub-systems within the TravelLite System as a whole must be fully understood. The system can be viewed as a collection of interacting objects. Object Modelling is the most important procedure in UML, it is a language independent notation used to define general relationships between objects. (See appendices 7.2-7.9 for UML Modelling of the TravelLite System)

4.4 Automated Check-in System

4.4.1 HCI guidelines

Within Human Computer Interaction, there are eight specified guidelines, which TravelLite’s Automated Check-in System should adhere to, which include: Consistency, Compatibility, Flexibility & Control, Explicit Structure, Continuous & Informative feedback, Error/ prevention/ correction, User documentation and support and Visual Clarity. Guidelines are now made legally enforceable within organisations where employers can be prosecuted for non compliance, for example, where interfaces are made where text is so small that employees find it difficult to read or translate, or where novice users find it difficult to find their way round the system due to the overall design and layout. In designing the ‘TravelLite’ system, the eight HCI guidelines have been taken into consideration to ensure that the system is suitable for expected tasks and functions of the system, is easy to use, is adaptable to suit different types of users, is capable of providing feedback and its overall format and speed of display is appropriate to users (See Appendix 7.30 for further HCI details).

4.4.2 Layout and Design

To successfully implement a robust check-in system that is intelligent enough to perform the tasks of a person whilst at the same time increasing customer satisfaction, the system must have the capacity to capture and hold a user’s attention. The system must be capable of providing a natural interaction to a user. One of the most natural methods of interaction for people is face-to-face. For this reason a large animated face will be displayed to the user. This will give the illusion that the system is robust and intelligent. Images will be displayed along side the animated character to provide the user with feedback of the checking in procedure.

4.4.3 Storyboards

A story board is used as a planning tool as it enables a visual representation of how a system should work. A typical story board contains visual images and text narration of what is happening within the system. The story boards will show the different stages in the system and provide a rough guide to follow during the design of the system. The following story boards will show the dialog which will take place between the TravelLite Automated Check-in System and passengers (See Appendix 7.28 for details).

4.5 Summary

This section has detailed the architecture of the TravelLite System. The primary sub-systems of the larger TravelLite System have been identified as follows: the Passenger, the Airport, the Online-Booking System, the Automated Check-in System and the Database. UML has been used to model the dynamic and static behaviour of the system. HCI guidelines and the layout of the design for the Automated Check System have been defined. Finally a collection of storyboards have been used to visually represent what is happening within the system.

5. Implementation & Testing

5.1 Introduction

This section details the creation of both the TravelLite database and the Automated Check-in System. Detailed appendices are included which provide design details for each system. This chapter will focus

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on how the CSLU toolkit was used to implement and test the Automated Check-in System. This section will systematically attempt to find faults in a planned way in the implemented software. A black-box testing approach will be utilised to uncover any defects. Valid and invalid inputs will be tested to determine the correct outputs. No knowledge of RAD’s internal structure is required. The results from testing will then be verified against the systems Functional and Non- Functional requirements as laid out in Chapter 3-Analysis & Specification.

5.2 Creating Database

Microsoft Access 2003 will be used for the TravelLite database. Using Access will allow a database to be built quickly with minimum effort. Access is compatible with the CSLU Toolkit. Five tables will be created, BOOKING, FLIGHT, DESTINATION, MEMBER AND CURR. These tables will be populated with sample data for demonstration purposes. The creation of the database is made some what simpler by the fact that there is a hierarchy within the database. The BOOKING table holds all the booking details for each booking. The FLIGHT table will hold all the flight details for each flight and the DESTINATION table will hold all the destination details for each destination. Two additional tables PROMOTION and CURR will be used to store the information that will provide some extra functionally within the application (See Appendix 7.12).

5.2.1 ODBC Data Source Implementation

The CSLU TravelLite Application will connect to the TravelLite Database using a Microsoft ODBC Driver. Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard Windows platform API for database access (Microsoft, 2006). Database vendors provide ODBC drivers for their individual database products, thus making them accessible on the Windows platform. Essentially ODBC is just an API (application programming interface) used as a medium to connect to different databases. To utilise the ODBC API to assist in the communications between the TravelLite Database and the CSLU TravelLite Application an ODBC driver must be used. ODBC drivers are database specific. Microsoft Access ships with required Microsoft ODBC Driver. The TclODBC Extension to TCL (Tool Command Language) allows access to a selection of relational databases. The Rapid Application Developer (RAD) can be configured to link to a database. To connect to the database in the Rapid Application Developer a database object must be created, which represents a session for sending SQL queries and getting query results back from the database (See Appendix 7.12.1).

5.3 Creating the Automated Check-in System

The checking-in procedure by nature is a linear process, it follows a logical sequence, certain activities must be conducted at the start of the check-in procedure such as providing photographic ID and a booking reference, successful completion of these steps facilitates the progression of the check-in procedure to the later stages such as baggage collection and the issuing of ticketing. For this reason the main activities of the checking-in procedure will be separated into individual sub Dialogues. Each sub Dialogue will provide the functionality required for that particular stage. Advancement to the next stage will depend on successful completion of the current stage, failure to complete the stages sequentially, will result in an unsuccessful check in attempt. Each sub Dialogue acts as a mini RAD canvas that can be saved within the main canvas. As there is only a limited workspace on the main canvas, this approach provides a cleaner, less disorganised canvas (See Appendix 7.14 for a screen shot of the main canvas along with the list of steps).

5.3.1 Automated Check-in System HCI

Unfortunately, the features in the CSLU for developing the HCI were extremely limited. For example images could not be accurately positioned to precise coordinates, buttons and images could not be kept on top of other objects and there was no fit to screen options. To allow for this problem, images were roughly positioned using the window placement property, which positioned images North East on the screen and buttons were added to the screen last so as they would sit on top of other objects on screen (See Appendix 7.13 for details).

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5.3.2 Obtaining Booking Reference Sub Dialogue

In order to capture the booking reference the Digit Recognizer object was utilized. The Digit Recognizer uses a special grammar to recognize digits. However when the application was tested the recognition of this object proved ineffective. When the user was asked for their five-digit booking reference, the Digit Recognizer was not powerful enough to understand the users input. Several fixes were attempted such as trying to improve the recognition by enhancing the phonetic representation of the recognition vocabulary and increasing the trailing edge silence setting to over 1000ms, all without success. Essentially, the Digit Recognizer had difficulty with the regional pronunciations of the words. In order to overcome this problem, a second approach was attempted using five generic objects each with ten ports (See Appendix 7.16). This strategy aimed to use a generic object to capture each digit individually to improve the recognition, all five digits could then be concatenated using TCL in an action object.

Speech: “Please tell me what is the first….fifth digit of your booking reference?” TCL code: set bookingRef [concat $bookingRef"0"]

This approach did not improve the recognition. RAD could not understand words like ‘two’ and ‘eight’. The dictionary that ships with the CSLU is the default System Dictionary based on the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) pronunciation dictionary (McTear, 2004). The phonetic representations that were automatically generated by RAD for words like ‘two’ and ‘eight’ were not suitable for users of this region. In order to overcome this hurdle, a series of five button objects were used to capture the five digits of a booking reference. When a user enters their booking reference via this method, they are unaware that there are actually five different buttons objects as each button object has exactly the same properties i.e. size and colour and set to the same location on the screen (See Appendix 7.15 for details).

Speech: “Please enter your booking reference?” TCL code: set bookingRef [concat $digit01$digit02$digit03$digit04$digit05]

5.3.3 Retrieve Booking Details

This step uses TCL within an Action Object to retrieve all the information regarding the booking from the various tables in the database. Several minor problems were encountered whilst using the TclODBC Bridge. TclODBC currently does not recognize some SQL standard data types, such as NCHAR and NVARCHAR. Also the TclODBC, on occasions was quite slow when retrieving data

(See Appendix 7.19 for details).

5.3.4 Obtaining Photographic ID Sub Dialogue

This step confirms the booking party and mimics the passport scanning process as explained in section (See Appendix 7.17 for details).

5.3.5 Obtaining Flight Information Sub Dialogue

This sub Dialogue implements relationship marketing by personalizing the experience for the user, by giving passengers information on their destination i.e. weather, currency and topical news items. No major errors were detected during the testing of this step, however, this step did take longer than expected, increasing the overall check in duration for the passenger (See Appendix 7.18 for details).

5.3.6 Conducting Security Questions Sub Dialogue

One quite significant problem detected during this step was the failure of RAD to consistently understand the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Several fixes were attempted, such as trying to hand craft pronunciation models for the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to allow for the correct pronunciation for users of this region. This had little impact. When other speakers were asked to test the system, the results were mixed, RAD could understand some individuals, but the recognition was not constant. The ability of

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RAD to understand the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ is absolutely vital to the entire checking-in procedure. For example, if the system asks the passenger: “Have you left your luggage unattended at any time?” and can not recognize the word ‘no’, then RAD will invoke a repair for this Dialogue state and the application will end, i.e. the passenger can not check in (See Appendix 7.20 for details).

5.3.7 Obtaining Baggage Details Sub Dialogue

This step obtains the number of bags being checked in and mimics the ticket dispenser issuing baggage tickets as explained in section? (See Appendix 7.21 for details)

5.3.8 Provide Gate Details Sub Dialogue

This section informs the passenger of which gate to proceed to (See Appendix 7.22 for details).

5.3.9 Perform Promotional Activities Sub Dialogue

Again, this sub Dialogue implements relationship marketing by further personalizing the user’s experience by conducting promotional activities. No major errors were detected during the testing of this step, however, again this step did take longer than expected, further increasing the overall check in duration for the passenger (See Appendix 7.23 for details).

5.3.10 Appendix: Update Booking Information to the Database

This section updates passenger booking information to the Database (See Appendix 7.24 for details).

5.4 Summary

This section has outlined the creation of both the TravelLite database and the Automated Check-in System. Several vulnerabilities with the Automated Check-in System have been exposed. A number of quite serious problems with the recognition of RAD have been uncovered, such as failure to recognize simple words like ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The HCI capabilities present in RAD were found to be extremely limited. The Obtaining Flight Information and Perform Promotional Activities Sub Dialogues took longer than expected, with the result of increasing the overall duration of the check in procedure.

6. Critical Analysis

6.1 Introduction

This report has examined the processes concerned with the development of an Automated Check-in System. A rationale for the project was provided by means of a problem statement. Background literature such as communication with computers, the benefits of speech technologies and existing speech technologies were discussed. This was followed by a detailed analysis, which looked at the requirements that a typical user would have for such a system. From this problem statement, the User Requirements, Software Requirements and Hardware Requirements were clearly defined. A precise set of Functional and Non-Functional Requirements was established. UML was used to visually model the static and dynamic behaviours of both the Automated Check-in Sub-System and TravelLite System as a whole. The issues involved in implementing both the TravelLite database and the Automated Check-in System by using the CSLU Toolkit, were then outlined. Several vulnerabilities with the Automated Check-in System were exposed. The results from testing were then verified against the systems Functional and Non- Functional requirements as laid out in Chapter 3-Analysis & Specification. This chapter will evaluate the prototype and suggest possible areas for improvement.

6.2 Critical Analysis of CSLU Toolkit

In order to successfully implement a robust check-in system that is intelligent enough to perform the tasks of a person whilst at the same time increasing customer satisfaction, will require a natural method of interaction, i.e. speech. This will require a very robust system capable of understanding spontaneous

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speech and be capable of interacting with people naturally. Although the CSLU Toolkit was extremely useful for the purpose of producing a prototype quickly and helped to identify further requirements, it is apparent from testing that it would be unsuitable for building a real world system. Spontaneously generated speech is quite difficult to recognize, however, the CSLU failed to even recognize speech read from script. It is clear from testing that pronunciation is central to recognition of speech for the CSLU Toolkit. In order for the Automated Check-in System to functional effectively it must understand passenger’s speech from many different regions. This means understanding a wide range of pronunciations. Some systems require speaker enrollment, i.e. a user must provide samples of his or her speech before using the system, whereas other systems are said to be speaker-independent, in that no enrollment is necessary. The CSLU does perform an enrollment to a minor extent through capturing the user’s speech during calibration, ‘This is a test’, but user enrollment is not an option for the Automated Check-in System. The system must be very easy to use and the entire check-in process must be conducted in an acceptable amount of time, user enrollment adds complexity and increases the total check-in duration. Unfortunately, the features in the RAD for developing the HCI were extremely limited. The CSLU does not allow the user full programmatic control over the HCI. Instead a selection of wizards had to be used to obtain a best attempt. This would be unsuitable for a real world application running on specialised hardware with different screen resolutions etc. Due to this limitation, the HCI could not be dynamically populated with data from the database at runtime. This meant instead of simply displaying this additional information, generic objects had to be used to generate speech to communicate information on the destination such as the temperature and currency. This restriction resulted in increasing the overall check-in duration for the passenger.

6.3 Future Work

6.3.1 Pronunciation Dictionaries

One of the biggest problems with speech systems is the recognition of spontaneous speech from users with different accents. The Automated Check-in System must be capable of understanding passengers from destinations all over the world. As discussed previously user speech enrollment is not a viable option for the Automated Check-in System. It would be more useful if a chosen speech kit could store a wide selection of different pronunciation dictionaries. Then at the start of the checking-in procedure the passenger could select their country of origin, a more advanced speech kit could even merge different pronunciation dictionaries, for example a passenger with a part Irish, part American accent (See Appendix 7.25). Three large widespread pronunciation dictionaries are the PRONLEX, CMU and CELEX (Jurafsky et al, 2000). The PRONLEX contains American English pronunciation and covers all the words used in many years of the Wall Street Journal. The CMU (used in CSLU) contains the American English pronunciation for approximately 100,000 words and the CELEX contains the British English pronunciation for approximately 160,000 words (Jurafsky et al, 2000).

6.3.2 Alternatives to Speech

Through testing of the prototype one major flaw was detected. In certain steps of the checking-in procedure the system did not offer an alternative method of progressing to the next step other than speech recognition. Even a highly sophisticated speech toolkit would not be able to understand 100% of users. For this reason an alternative to speech recognition should be available in every instance, to cater for users who encounter difficulties, for example allowing the user to enter their selection using buttons. The correct positioning of baggage and passports would also be important for the system where spoken natural language could interact with visual information displayed within the system. Richard Bolt’s (1979) paper Put-That-There: Voice and Gesture at the Graphics Interface explored the idea of connecting speech recognition and position sensing in space. This paper promoted the view that voice and gesture inputs within a graphical interface can come together to enable a robust, natural user modality (Bolt, 1980). Incorporating the ideas from Richard Bolt’s paper into the Automated Check-in System could prove very beneficial as voice input could complement user interaction to ensure the user’s experience is as natural as possible.

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6.3.3 Virtual Assistant

The use of an animated character was used within this project to simulate an actual person performing the check-in procedure. The animated character had no intelligence. It was simply capable of generating speech synthesis based on predefined scripts. This approach limits the usefulness of the system to a user. It would be much better if the Automated Check-in System utilized a virtual assistant to help accomplish the user’s objectives. SmartKom is a multi-modal dialogue system that uses a combination of human to human interaction. SmartKom combines “speech, gesture and facial expressions for input and output” (Wahlster, 2001). These different modalities are then co-originated together. SmartKom permits delegation to a virtual assistant called Smartakus which is visualised as a life like character; this character intends to achieve the user’s goals (See Appendix 7.27). The Smartakus is capable of interacting with people through speech recognition and natural language understanding and is capable of communicating with people by means of natural language generation and speech synthesis. A virtual assistant such as the one pioneered in the SmartKom project would be invaluable for the Automated Check-in System.

6.3.4 Using Emotions

The prototype did prove useful in identifying a further requirement of the system which was not considered in the original design, ‘configuring the animated character’s emotion’. When a user produced a wrong answer using the Automated Check-in System, the animated character’s emotion remained in a happy state. The information informing the user of their mistake conflicted with the animated character’s emotion on the HCI. The animated character used within this project was configured to look permanently happy whilst performing the checking-in procedure (See Appendix 7.26). This is probably not a realistic approach. It would be more practical if the animated character could look serious when asking the security questions or look puzzled if the passenger answers a question incorrectly, this would produce a more natural interaction between the user and the system. If the user answers the questions correctly, the system could deliver feedback in the form of praise, and likewise if the user answers incorrectly, the system could convey dissatisfaction. Technology being developed in projects such as ANVIL could potentially be very useful in producing a more natural interaction between the user and the TravelLite system. Anvil is a tool for the annotation of audiovisual material containing multimodal dialogue (Kipp, 2000). ANVIL is principally a video annotation device that records user’s movements and gestures (Kipp, 2000). Anvil was developed primarily for users to interact with applications in a more efficient, natural and entertaining manner. Incorporating ANVIL technology into the TravelLite touch screens may make the application’s actions more life like and believable, which in turn could potentially facilitate the natural method of interaction necessary to employ a robust check-in system.

6.3.5 Live RSS Feeds

RSS has become such an important tool in recent years. Rather than having to manually visit websites each day to obtain the latest information, RSS allows clients to simply subscribe to a given websites RSS feed. RSS is used to syndicate information so that other websites/ client software can determine which new items have added to a website. You can get the latest news headlines and articles, as soon as they are published. It takes the heavy lifting of staying up-to-date, by showing a compressed snap shot of the very latest information that is relevant. One of the primary goals of this project was to design a system that increased customer satisfaction by delivering a better service i.e. communicating to passengers details on their destination which might be of interest. Real-time information such as weather updates, foreign exchange rates and the latest news headlines available via RSS would be extremely useful within the TravelLite System. This data could be used to continually update the TravelLite database, which in turn could be served up to passengers by the Automated Check-in System.

6.4 Summary

The speech technology has now arrived to make an Automated Check-in System a viable option for replacing the current check-in procedure. This project has shown that the existence of such a system is

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now a reality. The prototype generated within this project has shown that such a system is entirely possible, with the capacity to not only deliver a more effective service to the passenger but also increase passenger satisfaction. The CSLU Toolkit has helped to identify further requirements and generate new ideas for the future. During this project, several alternatives to the CSLU Toolkit were explored, including the Chant SpeechKit and IBM WebSphere Voice. Both these products are available commercially and are not free for download like the CSLU Toolkit. Either of these products could potentially be used to develop an actual Automated Check-in System based on the prototype developed in this project using the CSLU Toolkit. When tested the speech recognition and synthesis of both these products was greatly superior to that of the CSLU Toolkit. Both products offered full programmatic control and an advanced speech platform that could potentially facilitate the natural method of interaction required to implement a robust check-in system.

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7. Appendices

7.1 Appendix: UML: Potential Object List

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Potential Object List

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7.2 Appendix: UML: Use-Case Model

UML: Use-Case Model

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7.3 Appendix: UML: Class Diagram

UML: Class Diagram

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7.4 Appendix: UML: Passenger State Diagram

UML: Passenger State Diagram

7.5 Appendix: UML: Automated Check-in System State Diagram

Automated Check-in System State Diagram

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7.6 Appendix: UML: Online Booking System State Diagram

UML: Online Booking System State Diagram

7.7 Appendix: UML: Database State Diagram

UML: Database State Diagram

7.8 Appendix: UML: Airport State Diagram

UML: Airport State Diagram

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7.9 Appendix: UML: Sequence Diagram

UML: Sequence Diagram

7.10 Appendix Sony VAIO VGN-FS515B Technical Specification

CPU Section

Microprocessor Full Name Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 533 MHz

FSB

Microprocessor Manufacturer Intel®

Microprocessor Speed (GHz) 1.73

Microprocessor Type Pentium M 740

L2 Cache (KB) 2048

Frontside Bus 533

Memory

Memory Speed (MHz) 533

Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM (2x512MB)

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Max. Memory (MB) 2048

Memory Size (MB) 1024

Drives

Hard Drive Capacity (GB) 80

Hard Drive Speed (rpm) 4200

Hard Drive Type Ultra-ATA

Optical Drive Type Double Layer DVD±RW drive

Display

Display Type X-black LCD

Diagonal Size (in) 15.4

Resolution Format 1280 x 800

Resolution Type WXGA

Graphics

Graphic Card Full Name Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900

Connectivity

Built-in Modem V92/V.90, K56 flex

Integrated Wireless LAN YES Wireless LAN Max. Date Rate

(Mbps) 54

Wireless LAN Range (m) max. 100

Wireless LAN Type 802.11b/g

Ethernet network 100 BASE-TX/10 BASE-T

Sony VAIO VGN-FS515B Technical Specification (Sony, 2006)

7.11 Appendix: TravelLite System Architecture

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7.12 TravelLite Database Design

7.12.1 ODBC Data Source Implementation

.

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7.13 Appendix: Automated Check-in System Graphical User Interface

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7.14 Appendix: Automated Check-in System: CSLU Canvas Design

Transcript for the check in process:

1. Start 2. Display GUI_01: Display initial graphic along CUAnimate Face 3. Connect to the TravelLite Database: establish a connection to the database 4. Retrieve booking details 5. Confirm that this booking reference is not already checked in 6. Welcome the customer 7. Check if the booking is for a repeat customer 8. Display GUI_02: Display ID graphic along CUAnimate Face 9. Obtain photographic ID form all passengers traveling 10. Obtain flight details for the booking 11. Conduct security questions 12. Display GUI_03 13. Obtain baggage details 14. Provide gate details 15. Conduct promotional activities 16. Update database with checking details 17. Delete GUI’s 18. End

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7.15 Appendix: Obtain Booking Reference Sub Dialogue (buttons)

Transcript for the Obtain Booking Reference Sub Dialogue:

1. Start 2. Use a generic object to generate speech synthesis: “Please enter booking reference” 3. Use a button object to capture first digit of the five digit booking reference* 4. Generate sound effect after first button press, to give the user feedback 5. Use a button object to capture second digit of the five digit booking reference* 6. Generate sound effect after second button press, to give the user feedback 7. Use a button object to capture third digit of the five digit booking reference* 8. Generate sound effect after third button press, to give the user feedback 9. Use a button object to capture fourth digit of the five digit booking reference* 10. Generate sound effect after fourth button press, to give the user feedback

11. Use a button object to capture fifth digit of the five digit booking reference* 12. Generate sound effect after fifth button press, to give the user feedback

13. In order to destroy the buttons, the following TCL code must be placed in an action object: tcl eval wm withdraw .resp_$obtain_BookingRef_01(id) tcl eval wm withdraw .resp_$obtain_BookingRef_02(id) tcl eval wm withdraw .resp_$obtain_BookingRef_03(id) tcl eval wm withdraw .resp_$obtain_BookingRef_04(id) tcl eval wm withdraw .resp_$obtain_BookingRef_05(id)

* Location of the buttons set to +448+630 on screen

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7.16 Obtain Booking Reference (voice recognition)

7.17 Appendix: Obtain Photographic ID Sub Dialogue

Transcript for the Obtain Photographic ID Sub Dialogue:

1. Start

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2. Use a generic object to generate speech synthesis: “Your booking was made for n people. Is that still correct?”

If booking is unchanged then…

3. Use Conditional Object to check party number 4. Speech synthesis: “Please place a passport for $booking_person_1, $booking_person_2,

$booking_person_3, $booking_person_4 and $booking_person_5 into the passport scanning

machine”

5. Use Media Object to generate scanning noise 6. Use Media Object to destroy scanning noise 7. Speech synthesis: “Your passports are now being scanned. Please wait a moment.” 8. Speech synthesis: “Thank you. Your passports have been successfully scanned” 9. End

If booking has changed then…

Speech synthesis: “How many people are still travelling?” 3. Use Conditional Object to check party number 4. Use a button object to obtain new party number* 5. In order to destroy the buttons, the following TCL code must be placed in an action object:

TCL Code: tcl eval wm withdraw .resp_$obtain_new_party_num_buttons(id) 6. Speech synthesis: “Is $booking_person_n still travelling?” 7. Speech synthesis: “Please place a passport for $booking_person_n into the passport scanning

machine”

8. Use Media Object to generate scanning noise 9. Use Media Object to destroy scanning noise 10. Speech synthesis: “Your passports are now being scanned. Please wait a moment.” 11. Speech synthesis: “Thank you. Your passports have been successfully scanned” 12. End

* Location of the buttons set to +448+630 on screen

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7.18 Appendix: Obtain Flight Information Sub Dialogue

Transcript for the Obtain Fight Information Sub Dialogue:

1. Start 2. Check if the flight is delayed

If the flight is delayed, communicate that fact to the passenger

3. Speech synthesis: “Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, Flight $destination scheduled for $departure_time is currently delayed by $delayed_duration hours”

4. Use Conditional Object to check if the flight is delayed by over 2 hours If the flight is delayed by over 2 hours, give the passenger the option to return

5. Speech synthesis: “Would you like to return two hours before the flight and check in then?” 6. Speech synthesis: “Check in desks close exactly 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of

each flight. TravelLite recommends checking-in two hours before departure.” 7. Use Action Object to set nextPassenger variable to 1, which will terminate the check-in 8. End

If the flight is on time, communicate that fact to the passenger

3. Speech synthesis: “Good news. Flight $destination scheduled for $departure_time is currently running on time.”

6. Speech synthesis: “The temperature at $destination is currently $temperature degrees” 7. Speech synthesis: “One pound Stirling is currently worth $sell_rate $currency_type..” 8. Speech synthesis: “and a current news item from that destination includes.

$topical_news_item1” 9. Use Action Object to set nextPassenger variable to , which will continue the check-in

procedure 10. End

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7.19 Appendix: Retrieve Booking Information from Database

This Action Object performs the following tasks:

1. Concatenate booking reference to a single number, to query database 2. Check that the passenger has not already checked in 3. Retrieve member details from the MEMBER table in the database

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4. Retrieve flight details from the FLIGHT table in the database 5. Retrieve information regarding the destination from the DESTINATION table in the database 6. Retrieve the exchange rate from the CURR table 7. Retrieve any promotions available from the PROMOTIONS table in the database

7.20 Appendix: Security Questions Sub Dialogue

Transcript for the Security Questions Sub Dialogue:

1. Start 2. Speech synthesis: “Have you packed your luggage yourself?”* 3. Speech synthesis: “Have you left your luggage unattended at any time?”* 4. Speech synthesis: “The following dangerous articles are not permitted in baggage whether

cabin or hold baggage: Gas cylinders. Flammable liquids. Poisons. Radioactive material.

Firearms and explosives. Infectious substances. Corrosives and any sharp instruments.”

5. Speech synthesis: “Are you carrying any of these items?”* 6. Use Action Object to set nextPassenger variable to 0, which will continue the check-in 7. End

* If any questions are answered incorrectly then

Speech synthesis: “In that case. Please report to the airport security desk located on the ground floor. Airport staff will complete the checking-in process for you. Thank you”

Use Action Object to set nextPassenger variable to 1, which will terminate the check-in End

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7.21 Appendix: Obtain Baggage Sub Dialogue

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Transcript for the Obtain Baggage Sub Dialogue:

1. Start 2. Speech synthesis: “How many items of hold luggage are you checking in?” 3. Use Conditional Object to determine party size 4. Use a button object to obtain the number of hold items to check in 5. Speech synthesis: “Please take the baggage tickets dispensed from the ticket dispenser. And

then place one baggage ticket on the handle of each piece of luggage”

6. Use Media Object to generate ticket dispenser noise 7. Use Conditional Object to determine party size 8. Speech synthesis: “Please place n pieces of luggage onto the conveyor belt” 9. Use Media Object to generate conveyor belt noise 10. Speech synthesis: “Your bags are being checked in. Please wait a moment” 11. Use Media Object to destroy wav files 12. Speech synthesis: “Thank you. Your bags have been successfully checked in” 13. End

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7.22 Appendix: Gate Sub Dialogue

Transcript for the Gate Sub Dialogue:

1. Start 2. Use Media Object to display baggage image 3. Speech synthesis: “Please take your booking passes from the ticket dispenser. And proceed to

Gate Number $gate_num.”

4. Use Media Object to destroy baggage image 5. End

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7.23 Appendix: Promotions Sub Dialogue

Transcript for the Promotions Sub Dialogue:

1. Start 2. Use a Conditional Object to check if a promotion is available 3. Use Media Object to display promotion image 4. Speech synthesis: “Good news. There is a special promotion available. $promotion. Would

you like to take advantage of this offer?”*

5. Speech synthesis: “Details of this promotion is provided from the ticket dispenser. Promotion details have also been e mailed to your member account. Thank you”

6. Use Media Object to destroy promotion image 7. End

* if passenger is not interested then…

Speech synthesis: “OK. Maybe next time”

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7.24 Appendix: Update the Database

This Action Object updates the database with the following items:

1. names of passengers who checked in 2. revised party number 3. the total number of bags checked in 4. the check in method (at the Airport) 5. the time of check in

7.25 Appendix: Pronunciation Dictionaries

Example of transcript: 1. Start 2. Speech synthesis: “What country is your accent from?” 3. Speech synthesis: “Please select first country” 4. Speech synthesis: “Please select second country” 5. Speech synthesis: “Please select third country” 6. End

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Flags (Hipp, 2007)

7.26 Appendix: Happy Emotion

7.27 Appendix: Smartakus

The Life-like Character’s pointing Gesture onto a Map (Wahlster, 2001)

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7.28 Appendix: Story Boards

Stage 1 Initial Interaction

1. Automated Check-in System Please enter your booking reference 2. Customer Enters booking reference by speech or using touch screen

buttons on screen 3. Automated Check-in System Welcome to TravelLite. I will check you in for your flight

If the passenger is already checked in then

4. Automated Check-in System Booking number 0000000 has already checked in at time 00.00

Welcome back Customer If they are not a returning Customer there is no interaction welcoming them back

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Stage 2: Obtain Photographic ID

5. Automated Check-in System Your booking was made for n amount people

Is that still correct? 6. Customer Yes 7. Automated Check-in System Please place your passport into the passport scanning

machine. If the party size has change 8. Customer No 9. Automated Check-in System How many people are still travelling? 10. Customer 5 11. Automated Check-in System Please place your passport into the passport scanning

machine. 12. Automated Check-in System Your passports are now being scanned. Please wait a

moment. Thank you. Your passports have been successfully scanned.

Stage 3: Flight Information

1. Automated Check-in System Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, Flight n scheduled for departure time n is currently delayed by n hours and minutes.

2. Automated Check-in System Would you like to return two hours before the flight and check in then?

3. Customer Yes

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4. Automated Check-in System Check in desks close exactly 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of each flight. TravelLite recommends checking in two hours before departure.

If the flight is no time 5. Automated Check-in System Good news. Flight n scheduled for departure time is

currently running on time. 6. Automated Check-in System The temperature at n is currently n degrees 7. Automated Check-in System One pound Sterling is currently worth n. and a current

news item from that destination includes n.

Stage 4: Security

1. Automated Check-in System Have you packed your luggage yourself? (must answer yes)

2. Customer Yes 3. Automated Check-in System Have you left your luggage unattended at any time? (must

answer no)

4. Customer Yes 5. Automated Check-in System The following dangerous articles are not permitted in

baggage whether cabin or hold baggage: Gas cylinders, Flammable liquids, Poisons, Radioactive material, Firearms and explosives, Infectious substances, Corrosives and any sharp instruments

6. Automated Check-in System: Are you carrying any of these items? (must answer no) 7. Customer No

(If passenger answers incorrectly they must) 8. Automated Check-in System In that case. Please report to the airport security desk

located on the ground floor 9. Automated Check-in System Airport staff will complete the checking in process for you 10. Automated Check-in System Thank you

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Stage 5: Luggage

1. Automated Check-in System How many items of hold luggage are you checking in? 2. Customer n 3. Automated Check-in System Please take the baggage tickets dispensed from the ticket

dispenser and then place one baggage ticket on the handle of each piece of luggage

4. Automated Check-in System Please place four pieces of luggage onto the conveyor belt 5. Automated Check-in System Your bags are being checked in. Please wait a moment 6. Automated Check-in System Thank you. Your bags have been successfully checked in

Stage 6: Gate

1. Automated Check-in System Please take your booking passes from the ticket dispenser.

and proceed to Gate Number n

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Stage 7: Promotion

1. Automated Check-in System Good news. There is a special promotion available. Give details.

2. Automated Check-in System Would you like to take advantage of this offer? 3. Customer Yes 4. Automated Check-in System Details of this promotion is provided from the ticket

Dispenser. Promotion details have also been e mailed to your member account

If Customer responds no 5. Customer No 6. Automated Check-in System OK. Maybe next time

7.29 Appendix UML: Automated Check-in System Conversational

Use-Case Diagram

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7.30 Appendix: Further Details on HCI Guidelines

1. Consistency, important for the usability of the system:

Internal Consistency – Moving from each section within the system is easily accessible to the user through the use of named buttons being provided that are consistently displayed whilst moving from and back to sections of the system. They allow the user to select and access which option or action they want to carry out i.e. booking reference, Passport and Baggage. The system also provides an ‘open’ button, clearly defined for the automated check in system, that novice users will find it easy to identify. Menu bars and headers within the check in system are also consistently placed within the same position so they can be easily found, headers such as ‘flight info’ and ‘Welcome to TravelLite’. External Consistency – Similar to other types of systems, the ‘TravelLite’ check-in system displays buttons for the user to select to obtain an action.

2. Compatibility:

Within the ‘TravelLite’ system there is no computer jargon i.e. where there is use of words that most people may not be familiar with. The overall system is designed to be self explanatory to the user through visual text and the use of speech directing the user at all times with the animation of a lady, making it more user friendly, particularly first time users. The GUI of the system also complies with colour conventions, another aspect of HCI guidelines, this can be seen where the user selects a button from the options provided, after the selection the colour of the button automatically changes red, making it different from the other options, indicating to the user at all times that this is their present choice of selection. Tasks and actions to be carried out within the automated check in system are in sequence within the GUI, another aspect of HCI. They are clearly displayed in order to be carried out e.g. booking reference (option for user to book in), passport (option for user to swipe in passport details) and baggage (last task to be carried). This order of sequence of tasks is carried out in all airports, only done so manually with staff involved. Another important aspect of HCI with creating a GUI for any system is to keep things simple i.e. what you see is what you get. To implement this into the GUI of ‘TravelLite’ menus, graphics, text have all been simplified and straight to the point and purpose of the system.

3. Flexibility and Control:

The GUI for the ‘TravelLite’ system has been designed to meet the needs of all users including, novice, intermediate and expert. It does this through having an interface that includes; text and speech being used to guide the user, particularly the use and visual aid of an animated screening of a lady, welcoming and directing the user of what to do in sequence to check in automatically. This will help particularly first time users of the system, who are unsure and unfamiliar with the system. The user can also make there way to and from different sections of the system where there is an option of correcting errors that may occur, this helps the flexibility and control of the system. The tailorability of the GUI is designed with the user’s needs and requirements taken into consideration. Firstly there is a good use of colours being used, neutral colours are used, which are a good choice particularly for those with eye sight problems. The size of fonts and colour of text of documentation included are also to the users liking, with being easy to read and retrieve information from. There is also a great use of graphics that display friendly characters, making the user more at ease and welcoming.

4. Explicit Structure:

The overall interface and structure of the GUI, in accordance to good HCI, is simple and not too overloaded and is well organised where information can easily been be seen and retrieved. There is also a good use of graphics, with only a few being used to display different functions of the system, good particularly for those with hearing problems, i.e. graphic of a passport is displayed when the ‘passport’ button is selected on the GUI, alongside graphic of baggage, when the ‘baggage’ button is selected.

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5. Continuous and informative feedback:

In carrying out specific tasks and functions of the system, continuous and informative feedback is displayed. This is carried out through the system providing Lexical Feedback (Message Received); this can be seen through the colour of buttons once being selected and turning colour. This indicates that they system recognises the users input. This can also been seen where the user enters their booking reference number, it is automatically registered within seconds, where speech is used to confirm and inform the user. Speech is used throughout with the aid of the animation, to confirm and provide information relating to the users inputs and outputs.

6. Error prevention/correction:

To reduce the possibility of errors occurring with the system, it has been designed where there is not typing input required from the user. All input is carried out through the use of selection of option buttons that are clearly marked indicating what each is for helping to reduce errors, speech and the use of the keyboard of numbers provided for check in purposes. These functions replace the need for typing input by the user which would cause and lead to errors.

7. User documentation and support:

User support is provided within the GUI of the ‘TravelLite’ system through the use of text, introducing and welcoming the user to the system firstly. Through each process of checking in through the automated booking system including inputting booking reference number, displaying of passport and checking in of baggage, informative text is provided that the user can easily read and interpret, supporting them throughout their use of the system i.e. the booking reference option, informs the user of the process involved in checking in, what is expected from them and what actions they must perform with the system, both is carried out through text and speech.

8. Visual Clarity

This involves reducing the visual search time for the user; this is carried out through the system having logical sequencing e.g. the order in which check in activities are carried out are displayed within the GUI in sequence in which they are carried out. Other features that are included are those only that will help the user in using the actual system, nothing else irrelevant is added to the GUI, this is good HCI practice. Ambiguity does not also occur within the ‘TravelLite’ system, as again, only relevant text and graphics is displayed at all times, and no redundant information is included.

7.31 Appendix: Easyjet HCI

(Easyjet, 2007)

The GUI, is a touch screen, where the passenger can select their destination firstly before they proceed to checking in, the option of selecting a language is another

key feature of the kiosk

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7.31.1 Instructing the passenger to enter credit card

(Easyjet, 2007)

7.31.2 Instructing passenger to enter baggage number

(Easyjet, 2007)

7.31.3 Security section of the GUI

TravelLite does not implement this feature, it is a method of providing identification from the passenger, and good use of explanatory graphics is

used here.

The touch screen allows users to enter the number of bags they would like to board; TravelLite instructs the passenger of the allowance and weight allowed a feature that Easyjet’s kiosk does not

have.

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(Easyjet, 2007)

7.31.4 More security questions

(Easyjet, 2007)

7.31.5 Printing boarding and baggage cards

Here are some of the standard security questions that are asked at every airport, similar to those asked by the TravelLite check in system. The passenger answers each question through selecting

an option via touch screen.

Displayed here is graphic allowing the user to see what and is not allowed to hold within baggage. Graphics alongside text are used to illustrate this. TravelLite, uses primarily speech to communicate with the user regarding security questions, this is beneficial to those who find it

difficult to see.

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(Easyjet, 2007)

7.31.6 Final Check-in Stage

(Easyjet, 2007)

Again illustrations are used to inform the passenger. Here passengers are informed to collect their boarding cards and baggage cards from the kiosk itself, where a printer is

provided.

Here the passenger is instructed to take bags to the EasyJet bag drop, the last process of checking in, using their system. A ‘finish’ button is used letting the passenger know that it’s the end of the checking in process, setting

up the system for the next passenger.

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