Orientações de design para Agentes Pedagógicos Animados

A área de agentes animados pedagógicos está relacionada ao desenvolvimento de aplicações que visam melhorar o processo de interação humano-computador (por humanos queremos dizer estudantes e professores) utilizando software de agentes representados por caracte- res ou figuras humanas. A fim de ajudar os pesquisado- res a projetar agentes pedagógicos que possam melhorar a usabilidade do agente humano, este trabalho vai discutir as diretrizes básicas para o design de Agentes Animados Pedagógicos, com base nos conceitos fornecidos pela In- formática na Educação, Inteligência Artificial e Interação Humano-Computador

A Virtual Conversational Agent for Teens with Autism: Experimental Results and Design Lessons

We present the design of an online social skills development interface for teenagers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The interface is intended to enable private conversation practice anywhere, anytime using a web-browser. Users converse informally with a virtual agent, receiving feedback on nonverbal cues in real-time, and summary feedback. The prototype was developed in consultation with an expert UX designer, two psychologists, and a pediatrician. Using the data from 47 individuals, feedback and dialogue generation were automated using a hidden Markov model and a schema-driven dialogue manager capable of handling multi-topic conversations. We conducted a study with nine high-functioning ASD teenagers. Through a thematic analysis of post-experiment interviews, identified several key design considerations, notably: 1) Users should be fully briefed at the outset about the purpose and limitations of the system, to avoid unrealistic expectations. 2) An interface should incorporate positive acknowledgment of behavior change. 3) Realistic appearance of a virtual agent and responsiveness are important in engaging users. 4) Conversation personalization, for instance in prompting laconic users for more input and reciprocal questions, would help the teenagers engage for longer terms and increase the system's utility

Survey on virtual coaching for older adults

Virtual coaching has emerged as a promising solution to extend independent living for older adults. A virtual coach system is an always-attentive personalized system that continuously monitors user's activity and surroundings and delivers interventions - that is, intentional messages - in the appropriate moment. This article presents a survey of different approaches in virtual coaching for older adults, from the less technically supported tools to the latest developments and future avenues for research. It focuses on the technical aspects, especially on software architectures, user interaction and coaching personalization. Nevertheless, some aspects from the fields of personality/social psychology are also presented in the context of coaching strategies. Coaching is considered holistically, including matters such as physical and cognitive training, nutrition, social interaction and mood.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 769830

End-user adoption of animated interface agents in everyday work applications

Recognizing the potential contribution that interactive software agents bring to everyday work applications, this paper reports on end-user adoption of animated interface agents in one particular work application environment: Microsoft 1 Office. The paper develops and empirically tests a theoretical model of the factors affecting an end-user’s choice to adopt and utilize such interface agents. From this theoretical model, a survey instrument was adapted and administered to 261 participants, familiar with animated interface agents. Results from a partial least squares (PLS) analysis indicates that a variety of factors are at play, which inhibit or foster a person’s choice to utilize and adopt animated interface agents. Of significance is that: (a) both perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment are important influencing factors; (b) users with high scores in innovativeness toward information technology are less likely to find animated interface agents enjoyable; (c) individuals with high animation predisposition scores perceive animated interface agents to be more enjoyable; and (d) users who perceive animated interface agents to be more enjoyable also perceive them to be more useful. Such insights can be used to leverage the introduction and rollout of animated interface agents in everyday work applications in ways that promote their avid adoption and use

An End-to-End Conversational Style Matching Agent

We present an end-to-end voice-based conversational agent that is able to engage in naturalistic multi-turn dialogue and align with the interlocutor's conversational style. The system uses a series of deep neural network components for speech recognition, dialogue generation, prosodic analysis and speech synthesis to generate language and prosodic expression with qualities that match those of the user. We conducted a user study (N=30) in which participants talked with the agent for 15 to 20 minutes, resulting in over 8 hours of natural interaction data. Users with high consideration conversational styles reported the agent to be more trustworthy when it matched their conversational style. Whereas, users with high involvement conversational styles were indifferent. Finally, we provide design guidelines for multi-turn dialogue interactions using conversational style adaptation

Autonomous behaviour in tangible user interfaces as a design factor

PhD ThesisThis thesis critically explores the design space of autonomous and actuated artefacts, considering how autonomous behaviours in interactive technologies might shape and influence users’ interactions and behaviours. Since the invention of gearing and clockwork, mechanical devices were built that both fascinate and intrigue people through their mechanical actuation. There seems to be something magical about moving devices, which draws our attention and piques our interest. Progress in the development of computational hardware is allowing increasingly complex commercial products to be available to broad consumer-markets. New technologies emerge very fast, ranging from personal devices with strong computational power to diverse user interfaces, like multi-touch surfaces or gestural input devices. Electronic systems are becoming smaller and smarter, as they comprise sensing, controlling and actuation. From this, new opportunities arise in integrating more sensors and technology in physical objects. These trends raise some specific questions around the impacts smarter systems might have on people and interaction: how do people perceive smart systems that are tangible and what implications does this perception have for user interface design? Which design opportunities are opened up through smart systems? There is a tendency in humans to attribute life-like qualities onto non-animate objects, which evokes social behaviour towards technology. Maybe it would be possible to build user interfaces that utilise such behaviours to motivate people towards frequent use, or even motivate them to build relationships in which the users care for their devices. Their aim is not to increase the efficiency of user interfaces, but to create interfaces that are more engaging to interact with and excite people to bond with these tangible objects. This thesis sets out to explore autonomous behaviours in physical interfaces. More specifically, I am interested in the factors that make a user interpret an interface as autonomous. Through a review of literature concerned with animated objects, autonomous technology and robots, I have mapped out a design space exploring the factors that are important in developing autonomous interfaces. Building on this and utilising workshops conducted with other researchers, I have vi developed a framework that identifies key elements for the design of Tangible Autonomous Interfaces (TAIs). To validate the dimensions of this framework and to further unpack the impacts on users of interacting with autonomous interfaces I have adopted a ‘research through design’ approach. I have iteratively designed and realised a series of autonomous, interactive prototypes, which demonstrate the potential of such interfaces to establish themselves as social entities. Through two deeper case studies, consisting of an actuated helium balloon and desktop lamp, I provide insights into how autonomy could be implemented into Tangible User Interfaces. My studies revealed that through their autonomous behaviour (guided by the framework) these devices established themselves, in interaction, as social entities. They furthermore turned out to be acceptable, especially if people were able to find a purpose for them in their lives. This thesis closes with a discussion of findings and provides specific implications for design of autonomous behaviour in interfaces

How Do You Like Me in This: User Embodiment Preferences for Companion Agents

We investigate the relationship between the embodiment of an artificial companion and user perception and interaction with it. In a Wizard of Oz study, 42 users interacted with one of two embodiments: a physical robot or a virtual agent on a screen through a role-play of secretarial tasks in an office, with the companion providing essential assistance. Findings showed that participants in both condition groups when given the choice would prefer to interact with the robot companion, mainly for its greater physical or social presence. Subjects also found the robot less annoying and talked to it more naturally. However, this preference for the robotic embodiment is not reflected in the users’ actual rating of the companion or their interaction with it. We reflect on this contradiction and conclude that in a task-based context a user focuses much more on a companion’s behaviour than its embodiment. This underlines the feasibility of our efforts in creating companions that migrate between embodiments while maintaining a consistent identity from the user’s point of view

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)