Language as the interface to the physical world
Every space already has an interface — signs, binders, and the person at the desk. Language lets us make it answer back.
Walk into any building and you're surrounded by interfaces: signage, printed rules, a QR code by the door, someone who knows where things are. They all encode the same thing — the knowledge of the place — in forms that don't respond to what you actually asked.
The interface people already reach for
People don't want a manual; they want to ask a question. Natural language is the interface humans default to for physical space, and it's the one most spaces can't offer at scale. A person at the desk can — but only one conversation at a time, only during their shift.
Making the space conversational
Our work in NLP is aimed squarely at this: turning the latent knowledge of a place into something you can talk to, on whatever surface you happen to be near.
- On a phone, via a link or QR code.
- On a kiosk in the lobby.
- In a staff tool behind the scenes.
The same underlying understanding, expressed through whichever surface fits the moment.
The best interface for a place is the one you already know how to use: a question.
Why language, specifically
Language is expressive enough to capture what forms and menus can't — the odd, specific, human questions people actually ask. And it degrades gracefully: when the system doesn't know, it can say so in the same medium, and point you somewhere that does.
Getting this right is less about a bigger model and more about faithfully connecting language to a place that's been made legible. That connection is the interface we're building.
