Roadmaps, journeys and destinations speculations on the future of speech technology research

This article presents thoughts on the future of speech technology research, and a vision of the near future in which computer interaction is characterized by natural face-to-face conversations with lifelike characters that speak, emote and gesture. A first generation of these perceptive animated interfaces are now under development in a project called the Colorado Literacy Tutor, which uses perceptive animated agents in a computer-based literacy program