Chris O'Malley
To learn how to use the software they depend on, computer users have for years either dialed up technical-support lines or asked friends and coworkers. Now they can ask their software instead, using plain English.
A new capability, dubbed natural-language processing (NLP), allows a stumped user to type in a question such as "How do I get these numbers into a bar graph?" In response, the software directs the user to an appropriate help screen or a step-by-step tutoring routine.
These NLP features are showing up in new versions of programs from Lotus,
Microsoft
, Novell, and other software vendors. Microsoft's (Redmond, WA, (206) 882-8080) Office 95, for example, contains an Answer Wizard that lets you type in anything ranging from a few words to a complete statement or question in search
of help.
Lotus's WordPro for Windows has a similar feature called Ask the Expert, which prompts you to complete a "How Do I" question and then takes you to the appropriate help screen.
Novell's WordPerfect Division (Orem, UT, (801) 429-7000) says it plans to apply a host of NLP features to the next edition of Perfect Office, which is due to ship by the end of this year. A query in Perfect Office will yield not only help screens but also interactive "coaches," templates, and "quick task" routines.
The next step will be to let users ask their computers questions by talking rather than by typing. Novell is already planning a 1996 or 1997 version of Perfect Office that will take NLP to the next level: voice recognition of plain-English questions.
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In Microsoft's Word for Windows 95, when you ask a question such as "How do I see what this document looks like before printing?," you get a list of help topics that help answer your question.
Help Gets Natural
