Collecting mobile multimodal data for match

Next-generation multimodal systems designed for use in mobile environments present challenges to the task of data collection that are not faced by speech-based systems. We discuss some established data collection and evaluation methods and their limitations in the context of a mobile multimodal system. These limitations are addressed by the “on-board” multimodal data collection method developed for MATCH, a multimodal mobile city guide. Our approach exploits MATCH’s component architecture in that each component can be redeployed in evaluation and annotation tools, allowing user test sessions to be replayed with a high degree of fidelity without the use of recorded video. Instead, the components themselves perform a dynamic re-enactment of test sessions directed by the script of a comprehensive log file. This method enabled continual user testing and piloting to inform the iterative development process for MATCH.