The following conversations are from the projects created by students in CSC2501, Fall 1998. This year's course yielded a very high calibre crop of natural language projects. Each student chose a domain, and created lexicon, parser and semantic interpretation rules to allow their Prolog programs to engage in the following natural language interfaces. The bulk of the programming was completed in a span of just two months.

 In all transcripts, bold text is user input and regular text is the program's response.

 Adrian Corduneanu - Natural Language Regular Expression Evaluator
Neil Graham - USA Geography Expert
Jacek Gwizdka - Bibliographic Database
Eric Joanis - Pervian Geography Expert
Antonina Kolokolova - Expert on Herbal Remedies
Greg Kondrak - Database about the France 98 World cup
Jonathan Shekter - A Rude French Waiter
John Watkinson - A Golf Score-Keeping companion
Diana Zaiu - Expert on the Great Lakes

Program by Adrian Corduneanu

consult the file "myinput.txt"
The file has been opened

show me the file "myinput.txt"
a0 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8 a9 a10
axb axxb axxxb axxxxb axxxxxb axxxxxxb axxxxxxxb axxxxxxxxb
1 12 123 1234 12345 123456 1234567 12345678 123456789
These words have no meaning: A Ba Cabx Dasss Esss Fs Gcd
I give
I gives
He was given
Him was given
We was given
We were given
I can give
I can given
I do give
The man has given
The nice men have given
You give a stamp
You give i
I had been giving men a chance
I gave at the office
The stamp was bought by the office

list the words consisting of no more than five characters
a0 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8 a9 a10 axb axxb axxxb 1 12 123 1234 12345 These words have no A Ba Cabx Dasss Esss Fs Gcd I give I gives He was given Him was given We was given We were given I can give I can given I do give The man has given The men have given You give a stamp You give i I had been men a I gave at the The stamp was by the

count those that have exactly one letter
12

enumerate the words that start in an "a" and that end in a digit
a0 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8 a9 a10

find those that end in "0" "1" or the digit "2"
a0 a1 a2 a10

what words contain at least five "x"'s
axxxxxb axxxxxxb axxxxxxxb axxxxxxxxb

which words contain an "a" followed by between 3 and five "x"'s followed by one "b"
axxxb axxxxb axxxxxb axxxxxxb axxxxxxxb axxxxxxxxb

count them
6

consider the lines begining with a capital letter
OK

how many of them contain two consecutive spaces
16

the sky is blue
Fine, but I do not care 

Program by Neil Graham

what is the capital of arkansas
Object 1: [little, rock]

which states border minnesota to the east
Object 1: wisconsin

what states are west of montana
Object 1: idaho
Object 2: washington
Object 3: oregon

what are the capitals of the states to the west of montana
Object 1: boise
Object 2: olympia
Object 3: salem

montgomery is in alabama
Object 1: yes

list all states to the south of saint paul
Object 1: [south, dakota]
Object 2: iowa
Object 3: missouri
Object 4: nebraska
Object 5: arkansas
Object 6: louisiana
Object 7: kansas
Object 8: colorado
Object 9: oklahoma
Object 10: [new, mexico]
Object 11: texas

what states that are south of arkansas are east of texas
Object 1: louisiana

list all states that are south of arkansas
Object 1: texas
Object 2: louisiana

what two states are between rhode island and vermont
Object 1: massachusetts
Object 2: [new, hampshire]
That's all the objects you asked for.

does minnesota share a boundary with north dakota
Object 1: yes

what state does california border on the east
Object 1: arizona
Object 2: nevada

this project is hard
Object 1: [it, is, absolutely, incredibly, impossible]

Program by Jacek Gwizdka

list books by Norman
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 1:
Authors : Donald A Norman
Title : Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine
Book : Children and Computers in School
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 2:
Authors : Donald A Norman
Title : Smart Children
Book : Children and Computers in School
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 3:
Authors : Donald A Norman
Title : Age of the Technology and Machine
Book : Children and Computers in School2

 display all papers by him
Assuming author: Norman
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 1:
Authors : Donald A Norman
Title : How do you Interact
Book : Psychology

how many papers were written by Pirolli
Quantity =2

how many were published by Ishii
Quantity =2

show all papers that have been written by Pirolli or Ishii
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 1:
Authors : Peter Pirolli
Title : Exploring Browser Design Trade-Offs Using a Dynamical Model of Optimal
Information Foraging
Book : Proceedings of ACM CHI 98 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 2:
Authors : Ed H Chi James Pitkow Jock Mackinlay Peter Pirolli Rich Gossweiler Stuart K Card
Title : Visualizing the Evolution of Web Ecologies
Book : Proceedings of ACM CHI 98 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 3:
Authors : Matthew G Gorbet Maggie Orth Hiroshi Ishii
Title : Triangles: Tangible Interface for Manipulation and Exploration of Digital
Information Topography
Book : Proceedings of ACM CHI 98 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 4:
Authors : John Underkoffler Hiroshi Ishii
Title : Illuminating Light: An Optical Design Tool with a Luminous-Tangible
Interface
Book : Proceedings of ACM CHI 98 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

display papers that were published by Pirolli and Card
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 1:
Authors : Ed H Chi James Pitkow Jock Mackinlay Peter Pirolli Rich Gossweiler Stuart K Card
Title : Visualizing the Evolution of Web Ecologies
Book : Proceedings of ACM CHI 98 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

 list papers written about Reading
--------------------------------
Bibliographical Record 1:
Authors : Annette Adler Anuj Gujar Beverly L Harrison Kenton OHara Abigail Sellen
Title : A Diary Study of Work-Related Reading: Design Implications for Digital
Reading Devices
Keywords: Reading Writing Paper documents Digital document readers Design Diary
study Field study Electronic books Virtual paper User behaviour
Book : Proceedings of ACM CHI 98 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

 what has been written about Technology
Authors : Donald A Norman
Title : Age of the Technology and Machine
Book : Children and Computers in School2

 how many papers were written by Norman in 1997
Quantity =0

Program By Eric Joanis

 [Editor's note: each response gives lots of information for each database item. For this webpage example, not all details are shown.]

how far is huaral from huacho

Object 1:
degree: how
source:position: [11 / 6, 77 / 36, unknown]
       frametype: inhabitedPlace
       frame: huacho
subject:position: [11 / 29, 77 / 12, unknown]
        frametype: inhabitedPlace
        frame: huaral
distance: 55.4026

what villages are on the amazon

Object 1:
on: frametype: river
    frame: amazonas
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: tamshiyacu
--------------------------------------
Object 2:
on: frametype: river
    frame: amazonas
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: pebas
--------------------------------------
Object 3:
on: frametype: river
    frame: amazonas
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: omaguas
--------------------------------------
Object 4:
on: frametype: river
    frame: amazonas
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: [coballo, cocha]

how many cities is cuzco far from

 34 records were found. Display them? (y/N) N

where is the city of the sun

Object 1:
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: cuzco

what is the city of the sun

Object 1:
placetypes: [inhabitedPlace / c / according to legend, 
            was founded in 11th cen. by manco capac, 
            called the first inca ruler, city / c / , 
            regionalCapital / c / , archaeologicalSite 
            / c / , educationalCenter / c / , capital 
            / h / of incan empire, 15th cen.]
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: cuzco

is lima a regional capital

Object 1:
placetypes: [inhabitedPlace / c / area was inhabited for 
            thousands of years; spanish city was founded 
            by conquistador pizarro in 1535, city / c / , 
            nationalCapital / c / , regionalCapital / c / , 
            industrialCenter / c / , commercialCenter / c / , 
            educationalCenter / c / site of the oldest 
            university in south america & other institutions, 
            culturalCenter / c / , judicialCenter / h / was 
            seat of spanish royal audencia (high court)]
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: lima

where is iquitos

Object 1:
position: [3 / 46, 73 / 15, unknown]
subject: parent: frametype: department
                 frame: [departamento, de, loreto]
         frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: iquitos

lima is on the pacific ocean

Object 1:
on: parent: frametype: world
            frame: world
    frametype: ocean
    frame: [pacific, ocean]
subject: frametype: department
         frame: [departamento, de, lima]

what body of water is the city of lima on

Object 1:
on: frametype: ocean
    frame: [pacific, ocean]
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: lima
--------------------------------------
Object 2:
on: frametype: river
    frame: rimac
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: lima

what place which is on the rimac is on the pacific

Object 1:
on: frametype: ocean
    frame: [pacific, ocean]
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: lima
--------------------------------------
Object 2:
on: frametype: ocean
    frame: [pacific, ocean]
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: callao

what city which is an industrial center is a port

Object 1:
placetypes: [inhabitedPlace / c / founded 1537, city / c / ,
            regionalCapital / c / , port / c / , 
            tradeCenter / c / , industrialCenter / c / ]
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: callao
--------------------------------------
Object 2:
placetypes: [inhabitedPlace / c / settled since late 18th 
            cen., city / c / created in mid-20th cen., 
            port / c / , tradeCenter / c / , 
            industrialCenter / c / , transportationCenter 
            / c / , fishingCommunity / h / established 1822]
subject: frametype: inhabitedPlace
         frame: chimbote

Program By Antonina Kolokolova

 john takes garlic
[Understood]

does john take garlic
[yes]

garlic grows in asia
[Understood]

where does garlic grow
[asia]

what grows in asia
[garlic]

what does john take
[garlic]

gingko is green
[Understood]

gingko grows in america
[Understood]

john buys clover for mary
[Understood]

mary has a cold
[Understood]

mary takes garlic for her cold
[Understood]

what green herb grows in america
[gingko]

john prescribes garlic for people who have cold
[Understood]

Program By Greg Kondrak

which team scored the most goals
team: bra

when was the first game
day: jun10
hour: 1730

what team did brazil play
team: sco

what was the final score
team1: bra
team2: sco
sc1: 2
sc2: 1

who scored the first goal
name: cesar_sampaio
team: bra
min: 4

who was the top scorer of the tournament
name: suker
team: hrv
num: 9

how many goals did rivaldo score
goals: 3

did england participate
answer: yes

list all teams that they played
team: tun
team: rom
team: col
team: arg

where did they play tunisia
venue: mars

who was the top scorer for them
name: owen
team: eng
num: 20

how many goals did he score
goals: 2

did holland play with brazil
answer: yes

when was the game
day: jul07
hour: 2100

what was the score of the game that united states played with iran
team1: usa
team2: irn
sc1: 1
sc2: 2

what teams beat usa
team: irn
team: yug
team: ger
 
 
 
 

Program by Jonathan Shekter

 Welcome to the Rude French Waiter Cafe.
And what may I get for you today Monsieur?

what can i order
We have:
asparagus soup, bruschetta, tossed salad, hamburger, cheeseburger, big steak, linguine, rabbit penne, roasted duck, chocolate cake, lemon tart, strawberry tart, ice cream, cold water, red wine

what desserts have you got
We have:
chocolate cake, lemon tart, strawberry tart, ice cream

i want to order the tart
We have:
lemon tart, strawberry tart
Monsieur will have to be more specific.

i want the lemon tart
Tres bien Monsieur.

jane would like the tossed salad
Tres bien Monsieur.

what drinks do you have
We have:
cold water, red wine

is the water cold
Oui, Monsieur.

she wants water
(Assuming she refers to jane)
Tres bien Monsieur.

what is jane ordering
jane has ordered:
tossed salad, cold water

is the cheeseburger green
Non, Monsieur.

fred wants the table
I'm sorry Monsieur, but we make a point of only serving edible things at this establishment.

fred wants fish
I'm sorry Monsieur, we don't have any such item.

what have we ordered
jane has ordered:
tossed salad, cold water
Monsieur has ordered:
lemon tart

the person who ordered the salad wants soup
Tres bien Monsieur.

has jane ordered soup
Oui, Monsieur.

i am female
Indeed Madame

i do not want the lemon tart
Tres bien Madame.

is the big steak not big
Non, Madame.

quit
Merci Madame, and bon soir.

Program by John Watkinson

 Welcome. Please enter the names of the players, separated by spaces.

 john andrew graeme marcia
Okay, type "goodbye" to exit. Play golf!

 what is par for hole 1
Par for hole 1 is 5

i am john
Pleased to meet you, john

andrew shot a birdie
Got it.

i made par
Got it.

graeme scored an eagle
Got it.

marcia had a bogie
Got it.

show us the score card
Hole 1 : 5
----------
Total: 5
Even

Scores for andrew
Hole 1 : 4
----------
Total: 4
1 under par

Scores for graeme
Hole 1 : 3
----------
Total: 3
2 under par

Scores for marcia
Hole 1 : 6
----------
Total: 6
1 over par

we are playing the next hole
Okay.

what is par
Par for hole 2 is 3

she got a par
Got it.

the leader got a bogie
Got it.

the player who was even got a double bogie
Got it.

what are the scores of the player who is two over par
Scores for john
Hole 1 : 5
Hole 2 : 5
----------
Total: 10
2 over par

the player who was 1 under par got a 2 on the second
Got it.

what did marcia get on the first
marcia got a 6 on hole 1

who is winning
andrew is currently leading. [Note, good strategy: make the TA win the golf game]

Program by Diana Zaiu

 what is the area of lake erie?
lake erie has the area of 25700 square kilometres ( 9910 square miles ) 

how long is it?
lake erie is 388 kilometres ( 241 miles ) long 

which is the deepest lake?
lake superior 

its area is 44 square miles.
I guess you mean : the area of lake superior is 44 square miles 
I know that the area of lake superior is 82100 square miles 

what is the volume of the lake which is 332 kilometres long
lake huron is 332 kilometres ( 206 miles ) long 
lake huron has the volume of 3540 cubic kilometres ( 850 cubic miles ) 

which is the deepest lake
lake superior 

which lake is the deepest
lake superior 

it is 344 feet deep
I guess you mean : lake superior is 344 feet deep 
I know that lake superior is 1332 feet deep 

lake erie which is the third deepest is 55 metres long
I guess you mean : lake erie is 55 kilometres long 
I know that lake erie is 388 kilometres long 
lake erie is the fifth lake ordered by depth 

what is the area of the lake which is 160 miles wide
lake superior is 257 kilometres ( 160 miles ) wide 
lake superior has the area of 82100 square kilometres ( 31700 square miles ) 

which lakes are longer than lake erie
lake erie is longer than lake ontario 
lake erie is longer than lake huron 
lake michigan is longer than lake erie 
lake superior is longer than lake erie