Theory and Practice of Multimodal Human-Machine Interaction technologies

With an emphasis on the linguistic properties of communication (including its verbal and semantic aspects) it appears to be less obvious that an effective communication must rely on non-linguistic cues as well. A multimodal approach to the study of communication including facial, hand and body gestures and lexically underspecified speech events, all accompanying its linguistically determined skeleton, offers the chance to better understand the highly complex and multifaceted nature of communication. information gained from multimodality makes it also possible to approach human-machine interaction in a more human-like way thus opening the way to make more user-friendly environments in our technologically ever increasingly advanced world. An introduction to the HuComTech project will shed light on some of the major issues of multimodal theory and related applications, including the development of smart home environments and assistance for the deaf.