From route descriptions to sketches: a model for a text-to-image translator

From route descriptions to sketches: a model for a text-to-image translator Lidia Fraczak LIMSI-CNRS, b£t. 508, BP 133 91403 Orsay cedex, France fraczak@limsi.fr Abstract This paper deals with the automatic trans- lation of route descriptions into graphic sketches. We discuss some general prob- lems implied by such inter-mode transcrip- tion. We propose a model for an automatic text-to-image translator with a two-stage intermediate representation in which the linguistic representation of a route descrip- tion precedes the creation of its conceptual representation. 1 Introduction Computer text-image transcription has lately be- come a subject of interest, prompting research on relations between these two modes of representa- tion and on possibilities of transition from one to the other. Different types of text and of images have been considered, for example: narrative text and motion pictures (Kahn, 1979; Abraham and De- scl~s, 1992), spatial descriptions and 3-dimensional sketches (Yamada et al., 1992; Arnold and Lebrun, 1992), 2-dimensional spatial scenes and linguistic de- scriptions (Andr~ et al., 1987), 2-dimensional image sequences and linguistic reports (Andr~ et al., 1988). Linguistic and pictorial modes may be considered as complementary since they are capable of convey- ing different kinds of content (Arnold, 1990). This complementarity of expression is explored in order to be used in multi-modal systems for human-computer interaction such as computer assisted architectural conception (Arnold and Lebrun, 1992). Such sys- tems should not only use different modes to ensure better communication, but should also be able to pass from one to the other. Given the differences in capacities of these two means of expression, one may expect some problems in trying to encode into a picture the information contained in a linguistic description. The present research is concerned with route descriptions (RDs) and their translation into 2- dimensional graphic sketches. We deal with a type of discourse whose informational content may seem quite easy to represent in a graphic mode. In every- day communication situations, verbal RDs are often accompanied by sketches, thus participating in a 2- mode representation. A sketch can also function as a route representation by itself. We will first outline some problems that may ap- pear while translating descriptions into graphics. Then we will describe our general model for an auto- matic translator and some aspects of the underlying knowledge representation. 2 Some translation problems Our first approach to translate RDs into graphic maps consisted in manually transcribing linguistic descriptions into sketches. By doing this, we encoun- tered several problems, some of which we will try to illustrate through the following example, taken from the French corpus of (Gryl, 1992). Example 2.1 A la sortie des tourniquets du RER tu prends sur ta gauche. II y a une magni]ique de- scente~ prendre. Puis tu tournes ~ droite, tu tombes sur une sdrie de panneaux d'informations. Tu con- tinues tout droit en longeant les terrains de tennis et tu tombes sur le bdtiment A. 1 In the description here above we can observe some ambiguities, or incompleteness of information, which may be a …

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