The senior companion: a semantic web dialogue system

The Senior Companion (SC) is a fully implemented Windows application intended for intermittent use by one user only (a senior citizen) over potentially many years. The thinking behind the SC is to make a device that will give its owner comfort, company, entertainment, and some practical functions. The SC will typically be installed at home, either as an application on a personal computer, or on a dedicated device (like a Chumby) or an intelligent coffee table (like Microsoft’s Surface). By means of multimodal input and output, and a graphical interface, the SC provides its ‘owner’ with different functionalities, which currently include: • conversing with the user about his personal photos • learning about the user, user’s family, and life history • telling the user jokes • reading the news (via RSS feed from the internet)