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

How the agent’s gender influence users’ evaluation of a QA system

In this paper we present the results of a pilot study investigating the effects of agents’ gender-ambiguous vs. gender-marked look on the perceived interaction quality of a multimodal question answering system. Eight test subjects interacted with three system agents, each having a feminine, masculine or gender-ambiguous look. The subjects were told each agent was representing a differently configured system. In fact, they were interacting with the same system. In the end, the subjects filled in an evaluation questionnaire and participated in an in-depth qualitative interview. The results showed that the user evaluation seemed to be influenced by the agent’s gender look: the system represented by the feminine agent achieved on average the highest evaluation scores. On the other hand, the system represented by the gender-ambiguous agent was systematically lower rated. This outcome might be relevant for an appropriate agent look, especially since many designers tend to develop gender-ambiguous characters for interactive interfaces to match various users’ preferences. However, additional empirical evidence is needed in the future to confirm our findings

Effect of agent embodiment on the elder user enjoyment of a game

International audienceThis paper presents a study that compared the elder user enjoyment of a game of trivia in three conditions: participants playing the game with a laptop PC vs. a robot vs. a virtual agent. Statistical analysis did not show any significant difference of the three devices on user enjoyment while qualitative analysis revealed a preference for the laptop PC condition, followed by the robot and the virtual agent. The elderly participants were concentrated on the task performance rather on the interaction with systems. They preferred laptop PC condition mainly because there were less interfaces distracting them from performing the task proposed by the game. Further, the robot was preferred to a virtual agent because of its physical presence. Some issues of the experiment design are raised and directions for future research are suggested to gain more insight into the effects of agent embodiment on human-agent interaction

Embodied cognition: A field guide

The nature of cognition is being re-considered. Instead of emphasizing formal operations on abstract symbols, the new approach foregrounds the fact that cognition is, rather, a situated activity, and suggests that thinking beings ought therefore be considered first and foremost as acting beings. The essay reviews recent work in Embodied Cognition, provides a concise guide to its principles, attitudes and goals, and identifies the physical grounding project as its central research focus

My avatar makes me feel good?:The effect of avatar personalisation and virtual agent interactions on self-esteem

The theory of Objective Self-Awareness (OSA) and related studies suggest that embodiment of personalised avatars may induce self-awareness and influence self-esteem. Additionally, the Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm suggests that humans may mindlessly respond to computers in ways that are similar to human interactions. Based on those assertions, it is plausible that virtual embodiment of a personalised avatar and interactions with a virtual agent can shift self-esteem. However, those effect on self-esteem have not been thoroughly examined in past studies. To address these research gaps, a 2 (avatar personalisation: personalised vs. non-personalised avatar) x 2 (virtual agent interaction valence: positive vs. negative) between-subjects experiment was conducted using a Virtual Reality (VR) simulation (N =171). Findings from the study showed that there was no effect of avatar personalisation and virtual agent interaction valence on state self-esteem change. However, the pairwise comparisons present some preliminary indications that avatar personalisation and positive interactions with a virtual agent may facilitate improvements in state self-esteem altogether. Implications of the study findings are discussed