Inbook,
No Code Required: Giving Users Tools to Transform the Web
chapter Knowing what you’re talking about: Natural language programming of a multi-player online game, page 331--343. Morgan Kaufmann, (2010)
Abstract
Enabling end users to express programs in natural language would result in a dramatic increase in accessibility. Previous efforts in natural language programming have been hampered by the apparent ambiguity of natural language. We believe a large part of the solution to this problem is knowing what you're talking about – introducing enough semantics about the subject matter of the programs to provide sufficient context for understanding. We present MOOIDE (pronounced "moody"), a natural language programming system for a MOO (an extensible multi-player text-based virtual reality storytelling game). MOOIDE incorporates both a state-of-the-art English parser, and a large Commonsense knowledge base to provide background knowledge about everyday objects, people, and activities. End-user programmers can introduce new virtual objects and characters into the simulated world, which can then interact conversationally with (other) end users. In addition to using semantic context in traditional parsing applications such as anaphora resolution, Commonsense knowledge is used to assure that the virtual objects and characters act in accordance with Commonsense notions of cause and effect, inheritance of properties, and affordances of verbs. This leads to a more natural dialog.
