WS://IM: A Software Framework for Multimodal Web Interaction Management

The rise of ubiquitous computing devices has provided the catalyst for the next generation World Wide Web, one that shifts the focus from the desktop computer to mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs, in an ever increasing range of modalities. Web interaction management in this setting must contend with a plethora of interaction interfaces and a diverse range of content types in addition to helping realize the full potential of multimodality (i.e., supporting flexible and personalized interactions between humans and sites). This thesis presents WS://IM, a new software framework for web interaction management that is capable of supporting multimodal interactions. In addition to presenting a loosely bundled, factorized architecture that supports hyperlink interaction, WS://IM has the unique facilitation for out-of-turn interaction. Out-of-turn interaction is a novel technique that helps realize mixed-initiative interactions between humans and Web sites.

Design methodology, implementation details, and exposition through three implemented case studies are provided.