Managing Learner’s Affective States in Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Abstract. Recent works in Computer Science, Neurosciences, Education, and Psychology have shown that emotions play an important role in learning. Learner’s cognitive ability depends on his emotions. We will point out the role of emotions in learning, distinguishing the different types and models of emotions which have been considered until now. We will address an important issue con-cerning the different means to detect emotions and introduce recent approaches to measure brain activity using Electroencephalograms (EEG). Knowing the influ-ence of emotional events on learning it becomes important to induce specific emo-tions so that the learner can be in a more adequate state for better learning or memorization. To this end, we will introduce the main components of an emotion-ally intelligent tutoring system able to recognize, interpret and influence learner’s emotions. We will talk about specific virtual agents that can influence learner’s emotions to motivate and encourage him and involve a more cooperative work, particularly in narrative learning environments. Pushing further this paradigm, we will present the advantages and perspectives of subliminal learning which inter

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANIMATION VIDEO TECHNOLOGY IN ARABIC LANGUAGE TEACHING ON STUDENTS OF ISLAMIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL OF METRO CITY

Students' difficulties in learning come from boredom, lack of excitement, and laziness stimulated by monotonous and uninteresting learning. This research aims to analyze three things: (1) how the use of animation video technology takes place in the process of Arabic learning; (2) how the students' learning attitude performs while using animation video technology; and (3) how the effectiveness of the use of animation video technology enhances the students' Arabic language mastery. This research method uses mixed-method research by combining qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on the data collection and data analysis process. This research's respondents are the students of State Islamic Elementary School of Metro City, Lampung totalling 70 students. The research instrument is the list of questions to gain data on the implementation of learning using the animation video technology. The test instrument to get data about the results of Arabic learning before and after using animation video technology. This study results in findings that animation video technology has created a psychological atmosphere that is fun for the children. The feeling of pleasure has developed students' positive attitude in learning. The results of the t-test show that sig (2-tailed) is equal to 0.019 < the value of α (0.05), which means that there is a significant influence on the use of animation video technology on students' Arabic langauge ability. This study concludes that animation video technology designed interestingly has overcome various difficulties of students' learning. This study recommends using animation video technology in teaching the Arabic language. &nbsp

Application-driven visual computing towards industry 4.0 2018

245 p.La Tesis recoge contribuciones en tres campos: 1. Agentes Virtuales Interactivos: autónomos, modulares, escalables, ubicuos y atractivos para el usuario. Estos IVA pueden interactuar con los usuarios de manera natural.2. Entornos de RV/RA Inmersivos: RV en la planificación de la producción, el diseño de producto, la simulación de procesos, pruebas y verificación. El Operario Virtual muestra cómo la RV y los Co-bots pueden trabajar en un entorno seguro. En el Operario Aumentado la RA muestra información relevante al trabajador de una manera no intrusiva. 3. Gestión Interactiva de Modelos 3D: gestión online y visualización de modelos CAD multimedia, mediante conversión automática de modelos CAD a la Web. La tecnología Web3D permite la visualización e interacción de estos modelos en dispositivos móviles de baja potencia.Además, estas contribuciones han permitido analizar los desafíos presentados por Industry 4.0. La tesis ha contribuido a proporcionar una prueba de concepto para algunos de esos desafíos: en factores humanos, simulación, visualización e integración de modelos

Lip syncing method for realistic expressive three-dimensional face model

Lip synchronization of 3D face model is now being used in a multitude of important fields. It brings a more human and dramatic reality to computer games, films and interactive multimedia, and is growing in use and importance. High level realism can be used in demanding applications such as computer games and cinema. Authoring lip syncing with complex and subtle expressions is still difficult and fraught with problems in terms of realism. Thus, this study proposes a lip syncing method of realistic expressive 3D face model. Animated lips require a 3D face model capable of representing the movement of face muscles during speech and a method to produce the correct lip shape at the correct time. The 3D face model is designed based on MPEG-4 facial animation standard to support lip syncing that is aligned with input audio file. It deforms using Raised Cosine Deformation function that is grafted onto the input facial geometry. This study also proposes a method to animate the 3D face model over time to create animated lip syncing using a canonical set of visemes for all pairwise combinations of a reduced phoneme set called ProPhone. Finally, this study integrates emotions by considering both Ekman model and Plutchik’s wheel with emotive eye movements by implementing Emotional Eye Movements Markup Language to produce realistic 3D face model. The experimental results show that the proposed model can generate visually satisfactory animations with Mean Square Error of 0.0020 for neutral, 0.0024 for happy expression, 0.0020 for angry expression, 0.0030 for fear expression, 0.0026 for surprise expression, 0.0010 for disgust expression, and 0.0030 for sad expression

Designing Embodied Interactive Software Agents for E-Learning: Principles, Components, and Roles

Embodied interactive software agents are complex autonomous, adaptive, and social software systems with a digital embodiment that enables them to act on and react to other entities (users, objects, and other agents) in their environment through bodily actions, which include the use of verbal and non-verbal communicative behaviors in face-to-face interactions with the user. These agents have been developed for various roles in different application domains, in which they perform tasks that have been assigned to them by their developers or delegated to them by their users or by other agents. In computer-assisted learning, embodied interactive pedagogical software agents have the general task to promote human learning by working with students (and other agents) in computer-based learning environments, among them e-learning platforms based on Internet technologies, such as the Virtual Linguistics Campus (www.linguistics-online.com). In these environments, pedagogical agents provide contextualized, qualified, personalized, and timely assistance, cooperation, instruction, motivation, and services for both individual learners and groups of learners. This thesis develops a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and user-oriented view of the design of embodied interactive pedagogical software agents, which integrates theoretical and practical insights from various academic and other fields. The research intends to contribute to the scientific understanding of issues, methods, theories, and technologies that are involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of embodied interactive software agents for different roles in e-learning and other areas. For developers, the thesis provides sixteen basic principles (Added Value, Perceptible Qualities, Balanced Design, Coherence, Consistency, Completeness, Comprehensibility, Individuality, Variability, Communicative Ability, Modularity, Teamwork, Participatory Design, Role Awareness, Cultural Awareness, and Relationship Building) plus a large number of specific guidelines for the design of embodied interactive software agents and their components. Furthermore, it offers critical reviews of theories, concepts, approaches, and technologies from different areas and disciplines that are relevant to agent design. Finally, it discusses three pedagogical agent roles (virtual native speaker, coach, and peer) in the scenario of the linguistic fieldwork classes on the Virtual Linguistics Campus and presents detailed considerations for the design of an agent for one of these roles (the virtual native speaker)

E-Drama: Facilitating Online Role-play using an AI Actor and Emotionally Expressive Characters.

This paper describes a multi-user role-playing environment, e-drama, which enables groups of people to converse online, in scenario driven virtual environments. The starting point of this research – edrama – is a 2D graphical environment in which users are represented by static cartoon figures. An application has been developed to enable integration of the existing edrama tool with several new components to support avatars with emotionally expressive behaviours, rendered in a 3D environment. The functionality includes the extraction of affect from open-ended improvisational text. The results of the affective analysis are then used to: (a) control an automated improvisational AI actor – EMMA (emotion, metaphor and affect) that operates a bit-part character in the improvisation; (b) drive the animations of avatars using the Demeanour framework in the user interface so that they react bodily in ways that are consistent with the affect that they are expressing. Finally, we describe user trials that demonstrate that the changes made improve the quality of social interaction and users’ sense of presence. Moreover, our system has the potential to evolve normal classroom education for young people with or without learning disabilities by providing 24/7 efficient personalised social skill, language and career training via role-play and offering automatic monitoring

A transdisciplinary study of embodiment in HCI, AI and New Media.

The aim of this thesis is to report on a transdisciplinary approach, regarding the complexity of thinking about human embodiment in relation to machine embodiment. A practical dimension of this thesis is to elicit some principles for the design and evaluation of virtual embodiment. The transdisciplinary approach suggests, firstly, that a single discipline or reality is, on its own, not sufficient to explain the complexity and dynamism of the embodied interaction between the human and machine. Secondly, the thesis argues for thinking of transdisciplinary research as a process of individuation, becoming or transduction, that is, as a process of mediation between heterogeneous approaches rather than perceiving research as a stabilized cognitive schema designed to accumulate new outcomes to the already-there reality. Arguing for going beyond the individualized approaches to embodiment, this thesis analyzes three cases where the problems that appear in one case are resolved through the analysis of the following one. Consisting of three phases, this research moves from objective scientific ¿reality¿ to more phenomenological, subjective and complex realities. The first study employs a critical review of embodied conversational agents in human¿computer interaction (HCI) in a learning context using a comparative meta-analysis. Meta-analysis was applied because most of the studies for evaluating embodiment are experimental. A learning context was selected because the number of studies is suitable for meta-analysis and the findings could be generalized to other contexts. The analysis reveals that there is no ¿persona effect¿, that is, the expected positive effect of virtual embodiment on the participant¿s affective, perceptive and cognitive measures. On the contrary, it shows the reduction of virtual embodiment to image and a lack of consideration for the participant¿s embodiment and interaction, in addition to theoretical and methodological shortcomings. The second phase solves these problems by focusing on Mark Hansen¿s phenomenological account of embodiment in new media. The investigation shows that Hansen improves on the HCI account by focusing on the participant¿s dynamic interaction with new media. Nevertheless, his views of embodied perception and affection are underpinned by a subjective patriarchal account leading to object/subject and body/work polarizations. The final phase resolves this polarization by analyzing the controversial work of Alan Turing on intelligent machinery. The research provides a different reading of the Turing Machine based on Simondon¿s concept of individuation, repositioning its materiality from the abstract non-existent to the actual-virtual realm and investigating the reasons for its abstraction. It relates the emergence of multiple human¿machine encounters in Turing¿s work to the complex counter-becoming of what it describes as ¿the Turing Machine compound¿.Ministry of Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oma