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Questions & Answers

ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK: Technical FAQ

Below are the most frequently asked questions regarding the ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK. Please also check Frequently Asked General Questions about ATOM SDKs.

General

What are the contents of the ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK?

The SDK contains development tools and a runtime engine. The development tools assist in developing dialogue scripts that are executed by the runtime engine. For a voice-enabled application, only the runtime engine needs to be integrated with the application. Please also check ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK Contents for details.
For which operating systems is the SDK available?

The tools in the SDK require Windows XP or Windows Vista. The runtime engine is currently available for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows CE (including Windows Mobile 2003, 2005 and 6.0). A port of the runtime engine to Linux is in preparation.

What Speech Recognizers does the ATOM Runtime Engine work with?

Out of the box, the runtime engine works with SAPI 5 compliant recognizers. This includes the recognizers that come with Windows XP and Windows Vista. You can also integrate with other speech recognition software. Please see below Q and A.
Is it possible to use other speech recognizers with the ATOM Runtime Engine?

Yes, it is possible. The ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK contains all necessary APIs to write bridge code between the speech recognizer and the runtime engine. The APIs are given as C++ header files. Please also visit Integration with Third-Party Software Components.
Is it possible to add an input device that is not a speech recognizer, for exmaple, a gesture reeognizer?

Yes, it is possible.
Does the SDK contain an example project demonstrating how to integrate input devices?

The ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK contains an example project demonstrating how to add a typed input device to the runtime engine.

What text-to-speech engines does the ATOM Runtime Engine work with?

Out of the box, the runtime engine works with SAPI 5 compliant text-to-speech engines. This includes the engines that come with Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Is it possible to use other text-to-speech engines with the ATOM Runtime Engine?

Yes, it is possible. The ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK contains all necessary APIs to write bridge code between the speech recognizer and the runtime engine. The APIs are given as C++ header files. Please also visit Integration with Third-Party Software Components.
Does the SDK contain an example project demonstrating how to integrate output devices?

The ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK contains an example project demonstrating how to add a typed output device to the runtime engine.

How are dialogues programmed?

Dialogues are programmed in ECMAScript (also known as JavaScript) with proprietary extensions.
Is there a graphical dialogue design tool for dialogue flow charts?

Outlining dialogue flow with a GUI is too limiting, because all dialogue states need to be completely specified. Using scripts allows the dialogue flow to be controlled by the user (just as in the case as using GUI) but also by external conditions, such as results of database requests, application state and so on.

Can the ATOM Runtime Engine access databases?

Yes, the ATOM Runtime Engine can access databases. The open source SQLite database is built into the runtime engine, but other database engines can be integrated as well.
Can I integrate my own database with the runtime engine, even if it is not an SQL database?

Yes, it is possible. Database integration requires to write bridge code between the database and the ATOM Runtime Engine. All necessary APIs are included in the SDK. The APIs are given as C++ header files.
Does the SDK contain an example source code demonstrating how to integrate output devices?

The ATOM Spoken Dialogue SDK contains an example source code demonstrating how to add a typed output device to the runtime engine.

What kind of application is the runtime engine?

The runtime engine is a dynamic link library (a .dll file for Windows, and a lib*. so file for Linux).
What are the differences between the Windows and Linxx versions as far as integration is concerned?

The APIs for Windows and Linux are identical.
How are events from the input devices communicated to the runtime engine?

Events are signaled by means of event objects (Windows) and semaphores (Linux).
What compilers and other tools do I need to program with the ATOM Runtime Engine?

The runtime engine has been tested with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 for Windows and gcc 4.1.2 for Linux. In addition, GNU make is necessary for Linux.
Is it possible to call functions in the application from the ATOM Runtime Engine?

Yes, it is possible to call any C or C++ function from the ATOM Runtime Engine at any point in the dialogue. The function to be called will be exposed at the scripting language level.

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