Voice and multimodal access to AEC project information

摘要

With current developments in information and communication technology, we are rapidly moving away from the Desktop and Laptop Web paradigms towards the Mobile Web paradigm, where mobile smart devices such as Smart phone, Pocket PC, PDA, hybrid devices (phone-enabled Pocket PC), and wearable computers will become powerful enough to replace laptop computers in the field. The availability of real time, complete information exchange with the project information repository is critical for decision making in the construction field, as information frequently has to be transmitted to and received from the project repository right on site. Whereas construction sites are often established for limited periods of time in locations where wired telecommunication infrastructure is often unavailable or limited. Therefore, it becomes important to establish a framework for augmenting the existing integrated project repository environment with mobile wireless devices. Mobile workers on a construction site will be able to use smart mobile devices to communicate with the project information repository in real time thus enabling timely and informed decision making on the project. This paper discusses the advantages of using VoiceXML technology for mobile industrial applications, presents a pilot industrial application of voice technology, and underlines the direction of future research in the area of mobile multimodal communication of AEC project information.