Evaluating Conversational Recommender Systems: A Landscape of Research

Conversational recommender systems aim to interactively support online users in their information search and decision-making processes in an intuitive way. With the latest advances in voice-controlled devices, natural language processing, and AI in general, such systems received increased attention in recent years. Technically, conversational recommenders are usually complex multi-component applications and often consist of multiple machine learning models and a natural language user interface. Evaluating such a complex system in a holistic way can therefore be challenging, as it requires (i) the assessment of the quality of the different learning components, and (ii) the quality perception of the system as a whole by users. Thus, a mixed methods approach is often required, which may combine objective (computational) and subjective (perception-oriented) evaluation techniques. In this paper, we review common evaluation approaches for conversational recommender systems, identify possible limitations, and outline future directions towards more holistic evaluation practices

Creating a framework for eliciting consumer satisfaction in Second Life

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyUsing consumer satisfaction as an example of complex communication and a virtual world as a mediating platform, a novel framework for eliciting consumer satisfaction has been developed. Consumer satisfaction is a key element for business success, while the elicitation of satisfaction perceptions from consumers can help vendors to assess and to improve their business performance. The objectives here are: how consumer satisfaction is defined, understood and measured; how virtual worlds function, both as a platform and a product; how users typically perceive their experiences in virtual worlds; and how consumer satisfaction metrics can be translated into a virtual environment. Second Life is used as an enabling technology for gathering requirements as well as for the construction, refinement and validation of the framework. Second Life is a virtual world, a multi-user, 3D, immersive environment, which has its own internal economy. The choice of using this social virtual world was due to Second Life being a resilient and widely used platform. The main contribution of this thesis is a framework that can be used to identify and categorise the complex and inter-related factors that affect the use of Second Life in terms of consumer satisfaction perceptions. Another contribution here is a novel approach to Search Engine trend analysis, which focuses on the number or search results returned as opposed to the number of queries for a given search phrase. Based on the research conducted by the author and knowledge gained from the literature, a framework has been developed which identifies interrelated components that provide a wider context to perceive the user experience of Second Life. The approach taken by the framework enables it to be used as a means to comprehend Second Life both as a product and as a platform. A Straussian Grounded Theory approach was taken to data gathering, analysis and interpretation in the context of the framework; further refinements are made to the framework as a consequence of emergent themes revealed through the process of analysing the gathered data. Guidance is given in brief as to how the framework can be adapted to reveal consumer satisfaction perceptions from other internet based services

Design and semantics of form and movement (DeSForM 2006)

Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM) grew from applied research exploring emerging design methods and practices to support new generation product and interface design. The products and interfaces are concerned with: the context of ubiquitous computing and ambient technologies and the need for greater empathy in the pre-programmed behaviour of the ‘machines’ that populate our lives. Such explorative research in the CfDR has been led by Young, supported by Kyffin, Visiting Professor from Philips Design and sponsored by Philips Design over a period of four years (research funding £87k). DeSForM1 was the first of a series of three conferences that enable the presentation and debate of international work within this field: • 1st European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM1), Baltic, Gateshead, 2005, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 2nd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM2), Evoluon, Eindhoven, 2006, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 3rd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM3), New Design School Building, Newcastle, 2007, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. Philips sponsorship of practice-based enquiry led to research by three teams of research students over three years and on-going sponsorship of research through the Northumbria University Design and Innovation Laboratory (nuDIL). Young has been invited on the steering panel of the UK Thinking Digital Conference concerning the latest developments in digital and media technologies. Informed by this research is the work of PhD student Yukie Nakano who examines new technologies in relation to eco-design textiles

Personalized Memory Transfer for Conversational Recommendation Systems

Dialogue systems are becoming an increasingly common part of many users\u27 daily routines. Natural language serves as a convenient interface to express our preferences with the underlying systems. In this work, we implement a full-fledged Conversational Recommendation System, mainly focusing on learning user preferences through online conversations. Compared to the traditional collaborative filtering setting where feedback is provided quantitatively, conversational users may only indicate their preferences at a high level with inexact item mentions in the form of natural language chit-chat. This makes it harder for the system to correctly interpret user intent and in turn provide useful recommendations to the user. To tackle the ambiguities in natural language conversations, we propose Personalized Memory Transfer (PMT) which learns a personalized model in an online manner by leveraging a key-value memory structure to distill user feedback directly from conversations. This memory structure enables the integration of prior knowledge to transfer existing item representations/preferences and natural language representations. We also implement a retrieval based response generation module, where the system in addition to recommending items to the user, also responds to the user, either to elicit more information regarding the user intent or just for a casual chit-chat. The experiments were conducted on two public datasets and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach

'Friends', 'fans', and foes: Identity performance through responses to Facebook brand marketing

This thesis is an investigation of a relatively recently-emerging type of social media discourse, where individuals reply to marketing and advertising messages that appear within their Facebook news feeds. Unlike in consumer discourse such as product reviews, the primary purpose of this interaction appears to be social in nature, due in part to the brand posts’ contextualization within the social space of the news feed. This thesis is concerned with the ways that responders ‘use’ news feed marketing messages as opportunities for the performance of identity, and how this is achieved linguistically through discursive exchange and evaluative language. This research question is approached through a triangulated discourse analytic approach grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004/2014), with a particular focus on the interpersonal dimension of meaning. The corpus includes 18 brand posts, consisting of images, text, and hyperlinks, and 540 comment responses. The first analytical layer is an analysis of the context of the interaction, which consists of a multimodal generic analysis of the form and function of the brand posts, as well as a description of the communicative purposes of responders (Martin & Rose, 2003; 2008). The second stage of analysis is a consideration of identity performance through interactive discourse exchange, using Negotiation analysis (Eggins & Slade, 1997; Martin, 1992). Finally, the third and central layer of analysis employs Appraisal theory (Martin & White, 2005) to investigate performances of identity through evaluation of emotions, aesthetics, and ethics. While there is an increasingly large amount of quantitative research considering the use and effectiveness of this emerging advertising model, there is to date no qualitative linguistic research considering the role of identity in responses to brand messages. The present study addresses this gap in the literature, whilst also addressing methodological issues and suggesting adaptations for applying these linguistic frameworks to computer moderated communicatio

Empathic design : emerging design research methodologies

A new relationship between product designers and the users of products is emerging. It is now being realised that users have complex supra-functional needs, which include the emotional, spiritual, social, tribal aspects of the relationship between particular products and the user/consumer'. Users seek more than mere functionality. In order to meet these needs designers need to actively develop research methodologies that are specifically aimed at collecting design relevant data which includes the often difficult to grasp elements of the supra-functional. The comfort zone for many designers involves designing products for themselves (or people like themselves) when intuition and insight can be closely matched. In modern, international markets and with increasingly demanding consumers, such approaches are inadequate. However, it is possible for designers to become directly immersed in researching users' needs and experiences rather than rely on third party research which, whilst potentially valuable, does not enable the same intimacy and potential for growth of experience for the designer. This approach is termed empathic design research. It seeks to broaden designers' 'comfort zone' by expanding the number of people they can empathise with, broadening their 'empathic horizon'. This thesis presents a body of published work by the author that explores the position of design research in relation to the changing role of Industrial/Product designers. The thesis consists of an introductory paper that pulls together the various strands in the published work. Following this a set of ten journal papers, one refereed conference paper and three book chapters is presented. The work as a whole defines a number of research approaches that designers can employ to elicit and understand users' suprafunctional needs. The papers establish the evolving context of product design and the growing interest in User-centred Design in its various forms. They examine research approaches that extend beyond user observation, involvement and draw the designer into a more empathic contact with users to illuminate functional and supra-functional requirements. Designers must learn to 'get under the skin' of the user; to develop empathy with users from population groups very different from their own in terms of culture, age and ability. This empathic intimacy can result in data generation and insight with this evaluation becoming an integral part of the designing process. The changing role of the product designer, as well as the nature of the design research process, frames the argument for adopting an empathic design research model. Finally, the author explores the implications of this important paradigm shift for design education.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Evaluation of product sound design within the context of emotion design and emotional branding

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Industrial Design, Izmir, 2005Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 111-122)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxi, 127 leavesThe main purpose of this thesis is to set out the relationships between the work of product designers and the perceptions of costumers regarding the acceptability of product sounds. Product design that provides aesthetic appeal, pleasure and satisfaction can greatly influence success of a product. Sound as a cognitive artifact, plays a significant role in the cognition of product interaction and in shaping its identity. This thesis will review emotion theories end their application to sound design and sound quality modeling, the measurement of emotional responses to sound, and the relationship between psycho-acoustical sound descriptions and emotions. In addition to that, affects of sounds to emotionally significant brands will be evaluated so as to examine marketing values. One of the main purposes of chapter 2 is to prove knowledge about psychoacoustics; as product sound quality is a basic understanding of the underlying psychoacoustics phenomena. Perception; particularly sound perception and its elements are described during chapter 2. Starting with the description of sound wave and how our hear works, sound perception and auditory sensation is reviewed in continuation. In chapter 3, product sound quality concept and its evaluation principles are reviewed. Thus, in order to understand the coupling between the acoustic perception and the product design; knowledge of general principles for product sound quality are required. Chapter 4 can be considered as two main sections. .How does emotion act as a delighter in product design?. is examined to better understand customer and user experiences impacting pleasure-ability in first section. In the second section, emotion is evaluated through sound design. A qualitative evaluation is done so as to examine cognition and emotion in sound perception. Chapter 5 leads subject through emotional branding. Sounds that carry the brand.s identity are evaluated within. Sound design is re-evaluated as marketing strategy and examined with several instances. Keywords: Product sound design, psychoacoustics, product sound quality, emotion design, emotional branding

Perception visuelle et olfactive chez les enfants avec un trouble du spectre de l'autisme:: implications sur l'acceptation des aliments

La construction du comportement alimentaire est parfois compliquée : 13 à 50% des enfants au développement typique (DT) présentent des problèmes alimentaires. Cette proportion pourrait être de plus de 80 voire 90% des enfants avec un trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA). Différentes études font état d’un lien entre les particularités sensorielles et la présence de problèmes alimentaires chez ces enfants. Cette thèse de doctorat vise ainsi à mieux comprendre en quoi les particularités perceptives (vue et odorat) des enfants avec un TSA influencent leur acceptation d’un aliment. Le premier objectif de cette thèse était d’établir un lien, et de le caractériser, entre les particularités perceptives (vue et odorat) et le comportement alimentaire chez les enfants avec un TSA. Nos résultats montrent qu’ils se distinguent des enfants au DT dans la façon dont ils explorent les stimuli, ces différences dépendent de la nature (visuelle ou olfactive) des stimuli. Les enfants avec un TSA attribuent aussi des valences hédoniques plus basses aux stimuli a priori plaisants, et ce, plus significativement pour la modalité visuelle. Finalement, le jugement hédonique est associé au degré de néophobie chez les enfants avec un TSA, ce qui n’est pas le cas chez les enfants au DT. Le second objectif était d’évaluer les effets d’une familiarisation olfactive sur l’agrément intrinsèque d’une odeur et sur l’appréciation d’un aliment porteur de cette dimension par les enfants avec un TSA. Nos résultats montrent une augmentation de l’expression émotionnelle positive pour l’odeur familiarisée. Nous avons observé aussi que deux tiers des enfants, notamment ceux qui ont le plus de particularités sensorielles, choisissent l’aliment porteur de cette odeur lors du choix alimentaire. Le dernier objectif de cette thèse était de prendre en compte le point de vue des enfants avec un TSA en leur donnant la parole et de le mettre en dialogue avec les résultats issus des neurosciences. Nos observations relèvent la pertinence d’une posture de recherche et/ou d’accompagnement dialogique pour permettre la construction de savoirs sur l’alimentation. Nos études soulignent l’importance de prendre en compte le profil perceptif propre aux enfants avec un TSA lors de la conception d’outils pédagogiques pour accompagner la construction du comportement alimentaire.The development of eating behaviour is sometimes complicated: 13% to 50% of typically developing (TD) children display feeding problems. In children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), this figure could be above 80% or even 90%. A number of studies have established a link between sensory particularities and the presence of eating problems in these children. This doctoral thesis, therefore, aims to better understand the extent to which perceptual particularities (visual and olfactory) in children with ASD influence their acceptance of a particular food. The first objective of this thesis was to establish and describe a link between perceptual particularities (visual and olfactory) and eating behaviour in children with ASD. Firstly, our results show that they differ from TD children in the way they explore these stimuli, with these differences depending on the nature of the stimuli. Secondly, they attribute a lower valence to stimuli which are, in principle, pleasant. This was particularly true of visual stimuli. Finally, there is a link between hedonic judgement and the degree of neophobia in children with ASD. This is not the case in TD children. The second objective was to evaluate the effects of olfactory familiarisation on the valence of an odour and on the appreciation of food which carries this odour by children with ASD. Our results show an increase in positive emotional expression relating to the odour which has been familiarised. We also observed that two thirds of the children, notably those with the most sensory particularities, chose the food that carried this odour when given a choice of food. The final objective of this thesis was to consider the perspectives of children with ASD and to compare them with results obtained in neuroscience. Our observations highlight the relevance of establishing a dialogical research and/or support approach that allows children and researcher to build and develop knowledge of food and eating. Our studies underline the importance of considering the perceptual profiles of children with ASD when designing educational tools to support eating behaviour development.Die Entwicklung des Ernährungsverhaltens ist mitunter schwierig: Bei 13 bis 50 Prozent aller Kinder mit typischer Entwicklung (TE) treten Ernährungsprobleme auf. Bei Kindern mit einer Autismus-Spektrum-Störung (ASS) könnte dieser Anteil sogar 80 bis 90 Prozent betragen. In verschiedenen Studien wurde ein Zusammenhang zwischen den sensorischen Besonderheiten und dem Auftreten von Ernährungsproblemen bei diesen Kindern festgestellt. Die vorliegende Doktorarbeit untersucht, inwiefern die perzeptiven Besonderheiten (Gesichts- und Geruchssinn) von Kindern mit einer ASS deren Akzeptanz eines Lebensmittels beeinflusst. Hauptziel der Arbeit war es, einen Zusammenhang zwischen den perzeptiven Besonderheiten (Gesichts- und Geruchssinn) und dem Ernährungsverhalten bei Kindern mit einer ASS herzustellen und zu beschreiben. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass diese sich von TE-Kindern zunächst durch die Art und Weise unterscheiden, in der sie die Reize erforschen, und zwar abhängig von der Art der Reize. Des Weiteren geben sie Reizen, die eigentlich angenehm sind, eine niedrigere hedonische Valenz, und zwar mit höherer Signifikanz den visuellen Reizen. Schliesslich ist bei Kindern mit einer ASS das Werturteil mit dem Grad der Neophobie verknüpft, was bei TE-Kindern nicht der Fall ist. Zum Zweiten sollte die Auswirkung eines olfaktiven Vertrautmachens auf die hedonische Valenz eines Geruchs und die Beurteilung eines mit diesem behafteten Lebensmittel durch Kinder mit einer ASS eingeschätzt werden. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen eine Verstärkung der positiven emotionalen Expression bei vertrauten Gerüchen. Ebenso beobachteten wir, dass zwei Drittel der Kinder, vor allem diejenigen mit den meisten sensorischen Besonderheiten, bei der Essenswahl das Lebensmittel mit diesem Geruch auswählen. Das dritte Ziel dieser Arbeit bestand darin, die eigene Sichtweise der Kinder mit einer ASS zu berücksichtigen, indem sie befragt und ihre Aussagen den neurowissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen gegenübergestellt werden. Unsere Beobachtungen beruhen auf dem Ansatz einer dialogischen Forschung bzw. Begleitung, der es ermöglichen soll, einen Wissensschatz um die Ernährung aufzubauen. Unsere Untersuchungen unterstreichen, wie wichtig es ist, bei der Erstellung von Lehrmitteln das spezifische Wahrnehmungsprofil von Kindern mit einer ASS zu berücksichtigen, um die Entwicklung des Ernährungsverhaltens zu begleiten

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)