Can Common Sense uncover cultural differences in computer applications?

Abstract

Cultural differences play a very important role in matching computer interfaces to the expectations of users from different national and cultural backgrounds. But to date, there has been little systematic research as to the extent of such differences, and how to produce software that automatically takes into account these differences. We are studying these issues using a unique resource: Common Sense knowledge bases in different languages. Our research points out that this kind of knowledge can help computer systems to consider cultural differences. We describe our experiences with knowledge bases containing thousands of sentences describing people and everyday activities, collected from volunteer Web contributors in three different cultures: Brazil, Mexico and the USA, and software which automatically searches for cultural differences amongst the three cultures, alerting the user to potential differences.