For all queries, just ask abdul on MSN

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation

If you want to make searches on the Web easier, check weather forecasts or translate text, you could just ask "Abdul".

Abdul is not a magician but a new technology that allows MSN Messenger users to ask questions and search for information through the instant messaging program.

 "Just add Abdul to your contact list in MSN and you will have a friend who can answer any query," Thepchai Suprithi, a senior researcher from Human Language Technology (HLT) Laboratory at the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec), said.

The research team at HLT Lab has developed a new engine called Chatbot which links various kinds of Web services and allows Abdul to interact with MSN users.

 "Users can have a general chat with Abdul as well as have him search for information on the Web, be it Thai-to-English and English-to-Thai dictionary or even translate English text or Web pages into Thai," Thepchai said.

The team has also used three key human language technologies developed in the lab to make Abdul a real personal assistant for MSN users. These technologies include a Thai and English dictionary called LEXiTron, an English-Thai machine translation program called Parsit and a search engine called Sansarn.

The LEXiTron program has 79,000 English to Thai vocabulary entries and 51,000 Thai to English entries.

Meanwhile, Parsit supports translation for text messages and entire Web pages with 60-per-cent accuracy. Sansarn, a search engine, offers information search results in the form of websites, news and pictures.

 "Users can just type a message and ask Abdul to find what they want and it will process the request and reply to users instantly," he said.

Once a request is sent to Abdul, the Chatbot program analyses the request and forwards it to target Web services such as LEXiTron, Parsit or Sansarn to process the result.

Abdul also links with other Web services related to weather forecasts, tourist information, restaurant information, intelligent transport system, stock and financial information, and government lottery results.

To add Abdul as an MSN contact, users can find Abdul's e-mail ID at www.hlt.nectec.or.th.

Thepchai said the team is planning to add more features to Abdul. By integrating text-to-speech as well as voice-recognition technology, users will be able to issue voice commands and Abdul will answer.