Computing a Map from Michi-Annai-Bun or Written Descriptions

This paper descr ibes processes of t ransforming michi-annai-bun, l i t e r a l l y s t reet-guide-sentence i n to a map on a d isp lay device: we f i r s t show how such t ransformat ion is performed, and then we discuss what i t means in terms of understanding natura l language expressions. INTRODUCTION In A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e and Cogni t ive Science there have been a number of s tud ies concerned w i t h maps and d i r e c t i o n s . Notably, Kuipers£l3 presented a model of representa t ion of large scale environments and used i t in cons t ruc t ing routes w i t h s t r e e t desc r i p t i ons . Riesbeck[2] observed tha t much of s p a t i a l reasoning was unnecessary when one reads a w r i t t e n set of d i r e c t i o n s . He claimed t h a t , w i thou t de ta i l ed in fo rmat ion on a l l the t u r n s , d is tances, and l oca les , the set of d i r e c t i o n s was c lea r and sensib le i f i t i s s a t i s f i e d c e r t a i n cond i t i ons . He then wrote a program tha t judged the c l a r i t y and c r u c i a l i t y o f the sentence in the t ex t g i v i n g d i r e c t i o n s . Here we present another program tha t is concerned w i t h mich i -annal -bun, l i t e r a l l y s t r e e t guide-sentence. QJLT program computes a p i c t u re (map) from michi-annai-bun or t e x t s g i v i n g d i r e c t i o n s . The e f f o r t is made w i t h a s i m i l a r ideas in mind tha t Simmons descr ibed when he computed p i c tu res from na tu ra l language f o r the c lown's m ic rowor ld [3 ] .