From Route Descriptions to Route Conversations: The Next Evolution of CUI Interactions for Navigation

Conversational user interfaces (CUIs) have become a critical component of modern mobile navigation, featuring spoken turn-by-turn instructions. As CUIs continue to proliferate and machine-generated language improves, we expect a shift in how navigation instructions are crafted. In this position paper, we explore the concept of "route conversations". In contrast to traditional route instructions, route conversations are accompanying dialogues between CUIs and humans reminiscent of human-human chats. We envision a first prototype of a CUI capable of engaging in route conversation and discuss its implications. Through vivid conversations throughout the navigation, we aim to increase trust in the system by enabling users to discuss timely information. Additionally, this approach should improve users' perception of the surrounding environment by actively referencing navigational features during the conversation.