Idiolect: A Reconfigurable Voice Coding Assistant

Abstract

This paper presents Idiolect, an open source (https://github.com/OpenASR/idiolect) IDE plugin for voice coding and a novel approach to building bots that allows for users to define custom commands on-the-fly. Unlike traditional chatbots, Idiolect does not pretend to be an omniscient virtual assistant but rather a reconfigurable voice programming system that empowers users to create their own commands and actions dynamically, without rebuilding or restarting the application. We offer an experience report describing the tool itself, illustrate some example use cases, and reflect on several lessons learned during the tool's development.