A multi-layer architecture for semi-synchronous event-driven dialogue management

We present a new architecture for spoken dialogue systems that explicitly separates the discrete, abstract representation used in the high-level dialogue manager and the continuous, real-time nature of real world events. We propose to use the concept of conversational floor as a means to synchronize the internal state of the dialogue manager with the real world. To act as the interface between these two layers, we introduce a new component, called the Interaction Manager. The proposed architecture was implemented as a new version of the Olympus framework, which can be used across different domains and modalities. We confirmed the practicality of the approach by porting Let´s Go, an existing deployed dialogue system to the new architecture.