[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 209 (Friday, October 29, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 58380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-28422]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


2000 Evaluation of DARPA Communicator Systems

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before December 28, 
1999.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Linda Engelmeier, 
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 
5027, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230 (or via 
the Internet LE[email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Gregory A. Sanders, Ph.D., National Institute of 
Standards and Technology (NIST), 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8940, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8940.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    In 2000, NIST will perform evaluations of Communicator 
implementations, as part of the Defense Advanced Research Project 
Agency (DARPA) Communicator program. Using the Communicator involves 
task-based spoken dialogue with the system. The evaluations that are to 
be performed are intended to achieve three goals. First, to help 
implementors of Communicator programs to identify the successes and 
weaknesses of their implementations. Second, to enable the research 
sponsors to identify and measure progress in order to assess the 
success of the program. Third, to advance the state of research 
knowledge about metrics and evaluation of task-based dialogue systems. 
The proposed evaluations will be performed with paid research subjects, 
who will each use the implementations to perform tasks representative 
of the tasks that Communicator systems are intended to perform. As part 
of the evaluation, the paid research subjects will be asked to respond 
to a user questionnaire that is intended to assess the subjects' user-
satisfaction and their subjective opinions about various aspects of 
each system that are being objectively measured. The subjects are being 
paid to complete the questionnaire, and they will not be paid if they 
do not complete the questionnaire.
    The user-questionnaire will enable us to study correlations of 
various objective metrics with the users' satisfaction and the users' 
subjective opinions.

II. Method of Collection

    Most questions will be Likert-scale type items (items consisting of 
a statement with the requested response being a choice on a scale 
running from ``fully agree'' through ``fully disagree''). We anticipate 
that the research subject users will read and respond to the questions 
on paper or else by using a web browser.

III. Data

    OMB Number: None.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: The research subjects (who will be adult persons, 
with any American accent and no speech impediment, who are familiar 
with the task domain).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 360.
    Estimated Time per Response: Less than 10 minutes per 
questionnaire.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 60 Hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Public: $0 (no capital 
expenditures required).

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology. Comments submitted in response to the notice will be 
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the 
information collection; they also will become a matter of public 
record.

    Dated: October 22, 1999.
Linda Engelmeier,
Departmental Forms Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 99-28422 Filed 10-28-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P