Implementing Multimodal Conversational Interfaces Using Android Wear

When they first appeared, conversational systems were developed as speech-only interfaces accessible usually via landline phones. Currently, they are employed in a wide variety of devices such as smartphones and wearables, with different input and output capabilities. Traditional speech-based multimodal interfaces were designed for Web and desktop applications, but current devices pose particular restrictions and challenges for multimodal interaction that must be tackled differently. In this chapter, we discuss these issues and show how they can be solved practically by building several apps for smartwatches using Android Wear that demonstrate the different alternatives available.