June 1985 - Vol. 28 No. 6

June 1985 issue cover image

Features

Research and Advances

Natural language with discrete speech as a mode for human-to-machine

A voice interactive natural language system, which allows users to solve problems with spoken English commands, has been constructed. The system utilizes a commercially available discrete speech recognizer which requires that each word be followed by approximately a 300 millisecond pause. In a test of the system, subjects were able to learn its use after about two hours of training. The system correctly processed about 77 percent of the over 6000 input sentences spoken in problem-solving sessions. Subjects spoke at the rate of about three sentences per minute and were able to effectively use the system to complete the given tasks. Subjects found the system relatively easy to learn and use, and gave a generally positive report of their experience.
Research and Advances

A randomized protocol for signing contracts

Randomized protocols for signing contracts, certified mail, and flipping a coin are presented. The protocols use a 1-out-of-2 oblivious transfer subprotocol which is axiomatically defined.The 1-out-of-2 oblivious transfer allows one party to transfer exactly one secret, out of two recognizable secrets, to his counterpart. The first (second) secret is received with probability one half, while the sender is ignorant of which secret has been received.An implementation of the 1-out-of-2 oblivious transfer, using any public key cryptosystem, is presented.

Recent Issues

  1. October 2024 CACM cover
    October 2024 Vol. 67 No. 10
  2. September 2024 CACM cover
    September 2024 Vol. 67 No. 9
  3. August 2024 CACM cover
    August 2024 Vol. 67 No. 8
  4. July 2024 CACM cover
    July 2024 Vol. 67 No. 7