AJAX for VoiceXML
I was thinking about how to enable AJAX for VoiceXML. This could help make voice interaction across mobile networks more efficient, as only the really necessary part of a dialogue would have to be transmitted. First, I tried to make AJAX work with my favourite VoiceXML Voice Browser OptimTalk. Unfortunately, this was not possible, because OptimTalk does not offer an XMLHttpRequest object and I didn't find a way to simulate this object with pure ECMAScript, i.e. without an external JRE.
My second try led me to Opera. Opera offers support for XHTML + Voice, which includes most parts of VoiceXML. Unfortunately it removes some of the functionality that VoiceXML offers (e.g. the GOTO or EXIT elements). I perfectly understand that these elements pose a syntactic redundancy as one can make use of their native XHTML counterparts, but removing support for some VoiceXML elements keeps people like me from integrating existing VoiceXML dialogues directly into their multimodal applications.
During the next days I will try to experiment a little with the AJAX capabilities of Opera in combination with XHTML+Voice.
My second try led me to Opera. Opera offers support for XHTML + Voice, which includes most parts of VoiceXML. Unfortunately it removes some of the functionality that VoiceXML offers (e.g. the GOTO or EXIT elements). I perfectly understand that these elements pose a syntactic redundancy as one can make use of their native XHTML counterparts, but removing support for some VoiceXML elements keeps people like me from integrating existing VoiceXML dialogues directly into their multimodal applications.
During the next days I will try to experiment a little with the AJAX capabilities of Opera in combination with XHTML+Voice.
posted by Patrick @ 9:35 PM
3 Comments:
At 10:49 PM,
Anonymous said…
The closest thing to native AJAX support in VoiceXML is the functionalty provided by the <data> element. (Note - this is a new addition to VoiceXML, part of the proposed VoiceXML 2.1 specification.)
And while this isn't really the same thing as AJAX in a visual web browser, there is some very cool stuff with it.
Hope this helps.
At 9:12 AM,
Patrick said…
Mark, thank you for the advice. During my research I ran over this VoiceXML Review article, too. I completely agree with you that the example provided in the article misses the A in AJAX. Unfortunately, the idea concerning the DATA element does not work for me, because I currently do not know of a (free or cheap) VoiceXML browser that runs on local hardware and supports VoiceXML 2.1. XHTML+Voice is also based on an old VoiceXML standard, so my idea was to use an XHTML+Voice browser (Opera) and use its AJAX functionalities for the Voice part. I am still experimenting, but my recent spikes look promising.
At 7:07 AM,
Anonymous said…
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