Interactive Spoken Simulation Control and Conversational Tutoring

Introduction We describe how spoken dialogue interfaces make a simulation-based trainer and an intelligent tutoring system into a powerful package for Naval damage control education. An advanced simulator gives a student real-time experience that would otherwise be extremely costly to provide. The dialogue interface to the simulator uses a simple finite-state script to allow the user to issue orders and requests in a realistic way. Subsequently, the reflective tutor communicates to the student about their experience with the simulator entirely through a 'conversationally intelligent* dialogue system, with capabilities like topic management and coordination of multi-modal input and output.