Almost human, but not really

Technologies become increasingly present in people’s daily lives and oftentimes adopt the role of social counterparts. People have conversations with their smart voice assistants and social robots assist with the household or even look after their users’ mental and physical health. Thus, the human-technology relationship often resembles interpersonal relationships in several ways. While research has implied that the human-technology relationship can adopt a social character, it needs to be clarified in what ways and regarding which variables the human-technology relationship and interpersonal relationships are comparable. Moreover, the question arises to what extent interaction with technology can address users’ social needs similar to a human counterpart and therefore possibly even affect interpersonal interaction. In this, the role of technology anthropomorphism, that is, the attribution of humanlike qualities to non-human agents or objects needs to be specified. This thesis is dedicated to the relevance of the human-technology relationship for interpersonal relationships with a focus on social needs. In the frame of this overarching research aim, the studies included in this thesis focus on the dynamics of the human-technology relationship and their comparability to interpersonal relationships (RQ1), the potential of human-technology interaction to address users’ social needs or substitute their fulfillment through interpersonal interaction (RQ2) as well as the role of technology anthropomorphism regarding these relationships (RQ3). First, focusing on trust, which is integral for the relationship with a technology that is experienced as a counterpart, two consecutive experimental studies (study 1.1/1.2) were conducted. Based on a human-robot interaction, they explored trust development in the human-technology relationship as well as to what extent determinants known to affect interpersonal trust development are transferable. Moreover, they focused on the role of technology anthropomorphism in this relationship. In this, a positive effect of technology competence, that is, its ability to achieve intended goals (study 1.1), as well as technology warmth, that is, its adherence to the same intentions and interests as the trustor (study 1.2), on trust in the technology emerged. Thus, relevant determinants for trust development in the human-technology relationship were highlighted, also implying a transferability of essential dynamics of trust development from interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, perceived technology anthropomorphism appeared to affect the positive interrelation of perceived technology competence and trust in the technology (study 1.1) as well as the interrelation of perceived technology warmth and trust in the technology (study 1.2). These insights support a relevance of perceived technology anthropomorphism in trust dynamics within the human-technology relationship, but also in the transferability of corresponding dynamics from interpersonal relationships. Similarly, in another study (study 2) the transferability of dynamics was explored for the variable of social connectedness, also key for relationship development and potentially relevant for the effect of interaction with technology on users’ social needs. Therefore, a two-week human-technology interaction with a conversational chatbot was investigated. In this, possibly relevant characteristics of the technology, such as its perception as anthropomorphic or socially present, and the user, for example, the individual tendency to anthropomorphize or the individual need to belong, were focused. Moreover, a possible effect of social connectedness to the technology on the desire to socialize with other humans was explored. As findings showed that duration and intensity of participants' interaction with the technology throughout the two-week study-period positively predicted felt social connectedness to the technology, similarities to dynamics of interpersonal relationship development were highlighted. Furthermore, the relevance of technology anthropomorphism in the development of a human-technology relationship as well as its comparability to dynamics of interpersonal relationships was underlined. Namely, the more intense individuals interacted with the technology, the more anthropomorphic they perceived it, and therefore felt more socially connected to it. Similarly, the longer and more intense individuals interacted with the technology, the more socially present they perceived it, and in turn felt more socially connected to it. While contrary to expectations, no interrelation between the felt social connectedness to the technology and the desire to socialize with other humans emerged, this relationship was explored further within studies 3.1, 3.2 and 4. Two consecutive experimental studies (study 3.1/3.2) explored the potential of anthropomorphic technologies to fulfill social needs as well as how individually perceived anthropomorphism correlates to these needs. While in both studies social exclusion and technology anthropomorphism were manipulated, we applied a different manipulation of anthropomorphism for each study. Whereas in one study (study 3.1) participants answered anthropomorphic (vs. non-anthropomorphic) questions regarding their own smartphone, in the other study (study 3.2) they were confronted with smartphone designs with anthropomorphic (vs. non-anthropomorphic) design cues. In both studies, no effects of anthropomorphism and social exclusion on behavioral intention or willingness to socialize were found. Yet, study 3.1 showed a positive correlation between willingness to socialize and perceived technology anthropomorphism. Results of study 3.2 further supported this relationship and additionally showed that this relationship was particularly strong for individuals with a high tendency to anthropomorphize, when the technology came with anthropomorphic design cues regarding its appearance. Thus, findings imply a relationship between social needs and anthropomorphism and further hint at a relevance of individual and contextual strengthening factors. To complement these findings and foster a deeper understanding of the human-technology relationship as well as its potential to address users’ social needs, a qualitative interview study was conducted (study 4). Findings highlight a potential of anthropomorphic technologies to address users’ social needs in certain ways, but also underline essential differences between the quality of human-technology interaction and interpersonal interaction. Examples are the technology’s missing reactions in interaction with the user on a content, physical, and emotional level as well as the absence of satisfaction of users’ social needs through interaction with technology. Additionally, insights hint at a social desirability bias, as interaction with technology that resembles interpersonal interaction appears to often be subject to rather negative reactions by third parties. After an overview of the empirical studies included in this thesis and their brief summaries, their research contribution is discussed. This is followed by an elaboration of overall theoretical and practical implications of this thesis. Theoretical implications focus on how this work contributes to but also extends theoretical and empirical work in the frame of the “computers are social actors” paradigm and particularly highlights the role of technology anthropomorphism as a phenomenon in this regard. Beyond the exploration of a social character of the human-technology relationship, this thesis offers insights on the potential of the human-technology relationship to address users’ social needs to an extent that interpersonal relationships can be affected. Implications for practitioners involve insights on design examples to support the development of essential determinants of the human-technology relationship. They also offer a more abstract invitation to reflect on the design and application contexts of technologies to foster a responsible handling with technology in peoples’ daily lives. Finally, the thesis concludes with a discussion of general limitations and directions for future research.Technologien werden zunehmend präsent im Alltag der Menschen und nehmen häufig die Rolle eines sozialen Gegenübers ein. Menschen unterhalten sich mit ihren technischen Sprachassistenten und soziale Roboter unterstützen im Haushalt und kümmern sich sogar um das psychische und physische Wohlbefinden ihrer Nutzer und Nutzerinnen. Entsprechend ähnelt die Mensch-Technik Beziehung in verschiedenen Aspekten häufig zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen. Im Einklang damit spricht bisherige Forschung dafür, dass die Mensch-Technik Beziehung einen sozialen Charakter annehmen kann. Es gilt jedoch zu erforschen, auf welche Art und Weise und in Bezug auf welche Variablen die Mensch-Technik Beziehung und zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen vergleichbar sind. Darüber hinaus stellt sich die Frage, inwiefern durch Interaktion mit Technik soziale Bedürfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen auf eine ähnliche Art und Weise adressiert werden können wie durch die Interaktion mit einem anderen Menschen, und infolgedessen möglicherweise ein Effekt auf zwischenmenschliche Interaktion entstehen kann. Dabei gilt es zu spezifizieren, welche Rolle Anthropomorphismus, das heißt, die Zuschreibung menschenähnlicher Qualitäten in Bezug auf nicht-menschliche Agenten oder Objekte, spielt. Die vorliegende Dissertation widmet sich der Relevanz der Mensch-Technik Beziehung für zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen, mit einem Fokus auf soziale Bedürfnisse. Im Rahmen dieses übergreifenden Forschungsvorhabens erforschen die Studien dieser Arbeit die Dynamiken der Mensch-Technik Beziehung und deren Vergleichbarkeit mit zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen (Forschungsfrage 1), das Potential der Mensch-Technik Interaktion, soziale Bedürfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen zu adressieren oder die Befriedigung dieser durch zwischenmenschliche Interaktion zu substituieren (Forschungsfrage 2) sowie die Rolle des Anthropomorphismus von Technik in Bezug auf diese Zusammenhänge (Forschungsfrage 3). In zwei konsekutiven, experimentellen Studien (Studie 1.1/1.2) wurde Vertrauen in der Mensch-Technik Beziehung als essentielle Grundlage einer Beziehung zu einer Technik, die als Gegenüber wahrgenommen wird, fokussiert. Mittels einer Mensch-Roboter Interaktion wurde die Entwicklung von Vertrauen in der Mensch-Technik Beziehung untersucht. Dabei wurde erforscht, inwiefern Determinanten, welche die Entwicklung von zwischenmenschlichem Vertrauen beeinflussen können, auf die Mensch-Technik Beziehung übertragbar sind. Darüber hinaus wurde die Rolle des Anthropomorphismus von Technik untersucht. Es zeigte sich ein positiver Effekt der Kompetenz der Technik, das heißt der Fähigkeit, beabsichtigte Ziele zu erreichen (Studie 1.1), und der Wärme der Technik, das heißt des Verfolgens der gleichen Intentionen und Interessen wie jeweilige Nutzer und Nutzerinnen (Studie 1.2) auf das Vertrauen in die Technik. Entsprechend wurden relevante Determinanten der Vertrauensentwicklung in der Mensch-Technik Beziehung beleuchtet und eine Übertragbarkeit essentieller Dynamiken der Vertrauensentwicklung aus zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen aufgezeigt. Außerdem zeigte sich ein Effekt des wahrgenommenen Anthropomorphismus der Technik auf die positiven Zusammenhänge zwischen wahrgenommener Kompetenz und Vertrauen in die Technik (Studie 1.1) sowie wahrgenommener Wärme und Vertrauen in die Technik (Studie 1.2). Diese Einsichten unterstützen die Relevanz des wahrgenommenen Anthropomorphismus der Technik hinsichtlich der Vertrauensdynamiken in der Mensch-Technik Beziehung sowie der Übertragbarkeit entsprechender Dynamiken aus zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen. In einer weiteren Studie (Studie 2) wurde die Übertragbarkeit der Dynamiken von zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen auf die Mensch-Technik Beziehung in Bezug auf die Variable der sozialen Verbundenheit untersucht. Diese kann ebenso relevant für die Beziehungsentwicklung und einen möglichen Effekt von Interaktion mit Technik auf soziale Bedürfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen sein. Hierfür wurde eine zweiwöchige Mensch-Technik Interaktion mit einem dialogfähigen Chatbot exploriert. Dabei wurden potentiell relevante Charakteristika der Technik, beispielsweise, ihre Wahrnehmung als anthropomorph oder sozial präsent sowie der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen, beispielsweise, die individuelle Tendenz zu anthropomorphisieren sowie das individuelle Bedürfnis nach Zugehörigkeit, fokussiert und ein möglicher Effekt der sozialen Verbundenheit zur Technik auf den Wunsch mit anderen Menschen zu sozialisieren untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass Interaktionsdauer und Interaktionsintensität mit der Technik über die zweiwöchige Studiendauer hinweg die empfundene soziale Verbundenheit zu dieser positiv voraussagten. Entsprechend wurden Ähnlichkeiten der Dynamiken der Beziehungsentwicklung zu zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen hervorgehoben. Des Weiteren wurde die Relevanz von Anthropomorphismus der Technik für die Entwicklung einer Mensch-Technik Beziehung und die Vergleichbarkeit mit Dynamiken zwischenmenschlicher Beziehungen unterstrichen. Denn je intensiver Menschen mit der Technik interagierten, umso menschenähnlicher nahmen sie diese wahr und fühlten sich infolgedessen umso stärker sozial verbunden mit ihr. Ebenso, je länger und intensiver Menschen mit der Technik interagierten, umso sozial präsenter nahmen sie diese wahr und fühlten sich infolgedessen umso stärker sozial verbunden mit ihr. Während sich wider Erwarten kein Zusammenhang zwischen der sozialen Verbundenheit zur Technik und dem Wunsch, mit anderen Menschen zu sozialisieren, zeigte, wurde dieser Zusammenhang im Rahmen der Studien 3.1, 3.2 und 4 näher exploriert. Im Rahmen zweier konsekutiver, experimenteller Studien (Studie 3.1/3.2) wurde das Potential von anthropomorphen Technologien, soziale Bedürfnisse zu erfüllen untersucht sowie der Frage nachgegangen, inwiefern individuell wahrgenommener Anthropomorphismus mit sozialen Bedürfnissen korreliert. In beiden Studien wurden soziale Exklusion und Anthropomorphismus der Technik manipuliert, Anthropomorphismus jedoch in den Studien jeweils unterschiedlich. In einer Studie (Studie 3.1) beantworteten Versuchspersonen anthropomorphe (vs. nicht anthropomorphe) Fragen über ihr eigenes Smartphone. In der anderen Studie (Studie 3.2) wurden sie mit Smartphone-Designs mit anthropomorphen (vs. nicht anthropomorphen) Merkmalen konfrontiert. In beiden Studien zeigten sich keine Effekte von Anthropomorphismus und sozialer Exklusion auf die verhaltensbezogene Intention oder die Bereitschaft mit anderen zu sozialisieren. Jedoch zeigte sich in Studie 3.1 übergreifend eine positive Korrelation zwischen der Bereitschaft mit anderen Menschen zu sozialisieren und dem wahrgenommenen Anthropomorphismus der Technik. Ergebnisse der Studie 3.2 unterstützten diesen Befund und implizierten zusätzlich, dass dieser Zusammenhang für Menschen, die eine hohe Tendenz zu anthropomorphisieren aufwiesen und gleichzeitig mit einer Technik mit anthropomorpher Gestaltung in Bezug auf deren Erscheinung konfrontiert waren, besonders ausgeprägt war. Insgesamt sprechen diese Einsichten für einen Zusammenhang zwischen sozialen Bedürfnissen und Anthropomorphismus und deuten auf eine Relevanz von individuellen und kontextuellen Faktoren hin, die verstärkend wirken können. Als Ergänzung der erläuterten Befunde sowie zur Unterstützung eines tiefgründigen Verständnisses der Mensch-Technik Beziehung und des Potentials dieser, soziale Bedürfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen anzusprechen, wurde eine qualitative Interviewstudie durchgeführt (Studie 4). Die gewonnenen Einsichten unterstützen das Potential anthropomorpher Technik, soziale Bedürfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen auf bestimmte Wege anzusprechen, aber zeigten auch essentielle Unterschiede in der Qualität der Mensch-Technik und zwischenmenschlichen Interaktion. Zu Beispielen gehören fehlende Reaktionen der Technik auf Nutzer und Nutzerinnen auf einer inhaltlichen, emotionalen und physischen Ebene sowie das Ausbleiben der Befriedigung sozialer Bedürfnisse durch die Interaktion mit Technik. Zusätzlich weisen die Studieneinsichten auf einen Effekt sozialer Erwünschtheit diesbezüglich hin, zumal die Interaktion mit Technik, die zwischenmenschlicher Interaktion ähnelt, häufig mit eher negativen Reaktionen Dritter assoziiert wurde. Im Anschluss an einen Überblick und die kurze Zusammenfassung der empirischen Studien dieser Dissertation wird deren Beitrag in Hinblick auf bisherige Forschung diskutiert. Darauf folgt eine Erläuterung übergreifender theoretischer und praktischer Implikationen dieser Arbeit. Theoretische Implikationen fokussieren hauptsächlich wie die vorliegende Dissertation das Verständnis theoretischer und empirischer Arbeiten im Rahmen des „computers are social actors“ Paradigmas vertieft und zusätzlich erweitert. Darüber hinaus wird die diesbezügliche Rolle von Anthropomorphismus der Technik als Phänomen beleuchtet. Über die Exploration des sozialen Charakters der Mensch-Technik Beziehung hinaus, liefert die vorliegende Arbeit Einsichten zum Potential der Mensch-Technik Beziehung soziale Bedürfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen insofern zu adressieren, dass Konsequenzen für zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen entstehen können. Implikationen für die Praxis beziehen sich auf Einsichten in Hinblick auf Design-Beispiele, welche die Entwicklung von Faktoren, die zentral für die Mensch-Technik Beziehung sein können, unterstützen können. Darüber hinaus laden die Implikationen ein, über das Design und die Anwendungskontexte von Technologien zu reflektieren, um einen verantwortungsvollen Umgang mit Technologien im Alltag der Menschen zu fördern. Abschließend werden allgemeine Limitationen der vorliegenden Arbeit diskutiert und mögliche Richtungen für zukünftige Forschung aufgezeigt

Types of Social Relationships and Their Effects on Psychological Well-being

Research has already established the importance of social networks in developing and maintaining well-being. Furthermore, different types of social relationships have been found to influence individuals’ lives in unique ways. There is little understanding, however, of the manner in which relationship types compare in their effects on individuals’ psychological well-being. Using a correlational design, this study investigated the associations between relationship intimacy and psychological well-being. Relationship intimacy was measured for respondents’ parents, significant others, close friends, and pets. The surveys were distributed to 91 undergraduate students and combined the Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS) and Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB) to assess respondents’ relationships and psychological well-being, respectively. The results of two regression analyses revealed that intimacy in relationships with one’s significant other and close friends were significant predictors of wellbeing, though specific mechanisms of influence could not be established. Further research opportunities include diversifying the study sample and investigating the creation of a standardized scale to more accurately measure intimacy across different relationship types

Design And Evaluation of A Conversational Agent for Mental Health Support: Forming Human-Agent Sociotechnical And Therapeutic Relationships

Many people with mental health disorders face significant challenges getting the help they need, including the costs of obtaining psychological counseling or psychiatry services, as well as fear of being stigmatized. As a way of addressing these barriers, text-based conversational agents (chatbots) have gained traction as a new form of e-therapy. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing techniques, this technology offers more natural interactions and a “judgment-free zone” for clients concerned about stigma. However, literature on psychotherapeutic chatbots is sparse in both the psychology and human computer interaction (HCI) fields. While recent studies indicate that chatbots provide an affordable and effective therapy delivery method, this research has not thoroughly explained the underlying mechanisms for increasing acceptance of chatbots and making them more engaging. Don Norman (1994) has argued the main difficulties of utilizing intelligent agents are social—not technical—and particularly center around people’s perceptions of agents. In exploring the use of chatbots in psychotherapy, we must investigate how this technology is conceptually understood, and the thoughts and feelings they evoke when people interact with them. This dissertation focuses on two types of relationships critical to the success of utilizing chatbots for mental health interventions: sociotechnical relationships and therapeutic relationships. A sociotechnical relationship concerns technology adoption, usability, and the compatibility between humans and chatbots. A therapeutic relationship encompasses people’s feelings and attitudes toward a chatbot therapist. Therefore, this dissertation asks: What are the optimal design principles for a conversational agent that facilitates the development of both sociotechnical and therapeutic relationships to help people manage their mental health? To investigate this question, I designed an original conversational system with eight gendered and racially heterogeneous personas, and one neutral robot-like persona. Using a mixed-method approach (online experiment and interviews), I evaluated factors related to the adoption and use of conversational agents for psychotherapeutic purposes. I also unpacked the human-agent relational dynamics and evaluated how anthropomorphism and perceived racial similarity impact people’s perceptions of and interactions with the chatbot. These findings contributed to the wider understanding of conversational AI application in mental health support and provided actionable design recommendations

Affective reactions towards socially interactive agents and their computational modeling

Over the past 30 years, researchers have studied human reactions towards machines applying the Computers Are Social Actors paradigm, which contrasts reactions towards computers with reactions towards humans. The last 30 years have also seen improvements in technology that have led to tremendous changes in computer interfaces and the development of Socially Interactive Agents. This raises the question of how humans react to Socially Interactive Agents. To answer these questions, knowledge from several disciplines is required, which is why this interdisciplinary dissertation is positioned within psychology and computer science. It aims to investigate affective reactions to Socially Interactive Agents and how these can be modeled computationally. Therefore, after a general introduction and background, this thesis first provides an overview of the Socially Interactive Agent system used in this work. Second, it presents a study comparing a human and a virtual job interviewer, which shows that both interviewers induce shame in participants to the same extent. Thirdly, it reports on a study investigating obedience towards Socially Interactive Agents. The results indicate that participants obey human and virtual instructors in similar ways. Furthermore, both types of instructors evoke feelings of stress and shame to the same extent. Fourth, a stress management training using biofeedback with a Socially Interactive Agent is presented. The study shows that a virtual trainer can teach coping techniques for emotionally challenging social situations. Fifth, it introduces MARSSI, a computational model of user affect. The evaluation of the model shows that it is possible to relate sequences of social signals to affective reactions, taking into account emotion regulation processes. Finally, the Deep method is proposed as a starting point for deeper computational modeling of internal emotions. The method combines social signals, verbalized introspection information, context information, and theory-driven knowledge. An exemplary application to the emotion shame and a schematic dynamic Bayesian network for its modeling are illustrated. Overall, this thesis provides evidence that human reactions towards Socially Interactive Agents are very similar to those towards humans, and that it is possible to model these reactions computationally.In den letzten 30 Jahren haben Forschende menschliche Reaktionen auf Maschinen untersucht und dabei das “Computer sind soziale Akteure”-Paradigma genutzt, in dem Reaktionen auf Computer mit denen auf Menschen verglichen werden. In den letzten 30 Jahren hat sich ebenfalls die Technologie weiterentwickelt, was zu einer enormen Veränderung der Computerschnittstellen und der Entwicklung von sozial interaktiven Agenten geführt hat. Dies wirft Fragen zu menschlichen Reaktionen auf sozial interaktive Agenten auf. Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, ist Wissen aus mehreren Disziplinen erforderlich, weshalb diese interdisziplinäre Dissertation innerhalb der Psychologie und Informatik angesiedelt ist. Sie zielt darauf ab, affektive Reaktionen auf sozial interaktive Agenten zu untersuchen und zu erforschen, wie diese computational modelliert werden können. Nach einer allgemeinen Einführung in das Thema gibt diese Arbeit daher, erstens, einen Überblick über das Agentensystem, das in der Arbeit verwendet wird. Zweitens wird eine Studie vorgestellt, in der eine menschliche und eine virtuelle Jobinterviewerin miteinander verglichen werden, wobei sich zeigt, dass beide Interviewerinnen bei den Versuchsteilnehmenden Schamgefühle in gleichem Maße auslösen. Drittens wird eine Studie berichtet, in der Gehorsam gegenüber sozial interaktiven Agenten untersucht wird. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass Versuchsteilnehmende sowohl menschlichen als auch virtuellen Anleiterinnen ähnlich gehorchen. Darüber hinaus werden durch beide Instruktorinnen gleiche Maße von Stress und Scham hervorgerufen. Viertens wird ein Biofeedback-Stressmanagementtraining mit einer sozial interaktiven Agentin vorgestellt. Die Studie zeigt, dass die virtuelle Trainerin Techniken zur Bewältigung von emotional herausfordernden sozialen Situationen vermitteln kann. Fünftens wird MARSSI, ein computergestütztes Modell des Nutzeraffekts, vorgestellt. Die Evaluation des Modells zeigt, dass es möglich ist, Sequenzen von sozialen Signalen mit affektiven Reaktionen unter Berücksichtigung von Emotionsregulationsprozessen in Beziehung zu setzen. Als letztes wird die Deep-Methode als Ausgangspunkt für eine tiefer gehende computergestützte Modellierung von internen Emotionen vorgestellt. Die Methode kombiniert soziale Signale, verbalisierte Introspektion, Kontextinformationen und theoriegeleitetes Wissen. Eine beispielhafte Anwendung auf die Emotion Scham und ein schematisches dynamisches Bayes’sches Netz zu deren Modellierung werden dargestellt. Insgesamt liefert diese Arbeit Hinweise darauf, dass menschliche Reaktionen auf sozial interaktive Agenten den Reaktionen auf Menschen sehr ähnlich sind und dass es möglich ist diese menschlichen Reaktion computational zu modellieren.Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaf

The Social Context of Nonverbal Behaviour

Although nonverbal behaviour has long been a topic of research, it is often studied in isolation from social partners and the social environment. This work presents three empirical chapters that reintroduce the social environment to the investigation of nonverbal cue exchange, focusing on the value of social rewards and the perceptive and affiliative functions of nonverbal communication. Findings reported in Chapter 2 indicate that the subjective value of social rewards changes as a function of social media use saliency. Specifically, thinking about a recent social media post, but not a synchronous conversation, increases the value of social rewards, such that people are willing to forego monetary gain to see a genuine smile. In Chapter 3, I show that although the amount of nonverbal behaviour does not necessarily enhance interpersonal judgement accuracy, accuracy does increase with familiarity, suggesting that people retain and update models of specific social partners. In Chapter 4, I demonstrate that social interactions on video-chat platforms, compared to face-to-face settings, are characterized by reduced interpersonal coordination and increased self-coordination, both of which have negative downstream effects for interaction outcomes (e.g., lower liking and worse interaction quality). Together, these findings indicate that the functions of nonverbal social cues and the subsequent judgments receivers make are strongly affected by the presence of social partners and the interaction environment. Thus, because nonverbal communication contingencies change as a function of individuals, situations, and interaction modalities, investigations of nonverbal cues should prioritize diverse social contexts to foster a well-rounded understanding of nonverbal behaviour

Virtual fashion influencers: towards a more sustainable consumer behaviour of generation Z?

Since the end of 2019, online platforms have flourished as offline activities were significantly reduced due to the epidemic. To survive in such a context, some fashion brands took advantage of the growing CGI(Computer-generated images) technology, allowing VIs and virtual models to be used as vehicles for fashion presentations. Gen Zers, who grew up in the digital generation, are very receptive to such VIs and are full of novelty. At the same time, Gen Z is the biggest consumer group in fashion, and the positive influence of Gen Z on fashion consumption can make the whole fashion consumer market develop in a more positive direction. It is necessary to explore the direction of VI design to guide GenZ to a more sustainable fashion consumption concept. Therefore, I set "what kind of design of virtual fashion influencers can lead the consumer behavior of Generation Z towards more sustainable attitudes and behaviors?" as the research question of this thesis and found the five categories of VI influence research proposed by Batista da Silva Oliveira & Chimenti and applied them to my research. Based on this five-category theory, the thesis discusses the factors of VI design success concerning the current VIs and how the five categories impact Gen Z's intention of sustainable fashion. I provided guidelines and principles for designing VI based on different aspects through three research methods: case studies, surveys, and semi-conducted interviews, and I answered the research questions. Through the case study analysis, I compared the current successful VI cases. I summarized the practices and principles and the operation methods of the team behind them to improve the impact of VIs. Also, I conducted a survey distributed among people interested in VIs and fashion and collected data for analysis. I inspected and verified that a higher index of the five categories would lead to a higher intention of Gen Z to consume sustainable fashion. To get more insights from these professionals and to represent the group's perspective as Gen Z, I interviewed people from the sustainable fashion industry and virtual human and digital art industry. This study summarized the key points that can be used to improve the impact of VIs and proofs that the attractiveness, authenticity, controllability, anthropomorphism, and scalability of VI will positively contribute to consumers' intention to support sustainable fashion. This thesis also concluded with design guides about physical appearance design, psychological character design, and the operation mode of Virtual influencers that promote sustainable fashion

Data and the city – accessibility and openness. a cybersalon paper on open data

This paper showcases examples of bottom–up open data and smart city applications and identifies lessons for future such efforts. Examples include Changify, a neighbourhood-based platform for residents, businesses, and companies; Open Sensors, which provides APIs to help businesses, startups, and individuals develop applications for the Internet of Things; and Cybersalon’s Hackney Treasures. a location-based mobile app that uses Wikipedia entries geolocated in Hackney borough to map notable local residents. Other experiments with sensors and open data by Cybersalon members include Ilze Black and Nanda Khaorapapong's The Breather, a "breathing" balloon that uses high-end, sophisticated sensors to make air quality visible; and James Moulding's AirPublic, which measures pollution levels. Based on Cybersalon's experience to date, getting data to the people is difficult, circuitous, and slow, requiring an intricate process of leadership, public relations, and perseverance. Although there are myriad tools and initiatives, there is no one solution for the actual transfer of that data

Human Practice. Digital Ecologies. Our Future. : 14. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2019) : Tagungsband

Erschienen bei: universi - Universitätsverlag Siegen. - ISBN: 978-3-96182-063-4Aus dem Inhalt: Track 1: Produktion & Cyber-Physische Systeme Requirements and a Meta Model for Exchanging Additive Manufacturing Capacities Service Systems, Smart Service Systems and Cyber- Physical Systems—What’s the difference? Towards a Unified Terminology Developing an Industrial IoT Platform – Trade-off between Horizontal and Vertical Approaches Machine Learning und Complex Event Processing: Effiziente Echtzeitauswertung am Beispiel Smart Factory Sensor retrofit for a coffee machine as condition monitoring and predictive maintenance use case Stakeholder-Analyse zum Einsatz IIoT-basierter Frischeinformationen in der Lebensmittelindustrie Towards a Framework for Predictive Maintenance Strategies in Mechanical Engineering - A Method-Oriented Literature Analysis Development of a matching platform for the requirement-oriented selection of cyber physical systems for SMEs Track 2: Logistic Analytics An Empirical Study of Customers’ Behavioral Intention to Use Ridepooling Services – An Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model Modeling Delay Propagation and Transmission in Railway Networks What is the impact of company specific adjustments on the acceptance and diffusion of logistic standards? Robust Route Planning in Intermodal Urban Traffic Track 3: Unternehmensmodellierung & Informationssystemgestaltung (Enterprise Modelling & Information Systems Design) Work System Modeling Method with Different Levels of Specificity and Rigor for Different Stakeholder Purposes Resolving Inconsistencies in Declarative Process Models based on Culpability Measurement Strategic Analysis in the Realm of Enterprise Modeling – On the Example of Blockchain-Based Initiatives for the Electricity Sector Zwischenbetriebliche Integration in der Möbelbranche: Konfigurationen und Einflussfaktoren Novices’ Quality Perceptions and the Acceptance of Process Modeling Grammars Entwicklung einer Definition für Social Business Objects (SBO) zur Modellierung von Unternehmensinformationen Designing a Reference Model for Digital Product Configurators Terminology for Evolving Design Artifacts Business Role-Object Specification: A Language for Behavior-aware Structural Modeling of Business Objects Generating Smart Glasses-based Information Systems with BPMN4SGA: A BPMN Extension for Smart Glasses Applications Using Blockchain in Peer-to-Peer Carsharing to Build Trust in the Sharing Economy Testing in Big Data: An Architecture Pattern for a Development Environment for Innovative, Integrated and Robust Applications Track 4: Lern- und Wissensmanagement (e-Learning and Knowledge Management) eGovernment Competences revisited – A Literature Review on necessary Competences in a Digitalized Public Sector Say Hello to Your New Automated Tutor – A Structured Literature Review on Pedagogical Conversational Agents Teaching the Digital Transformation of Business Processes: Design of a Simulation Game for Information Systems Education Conceptualizing Immersion for Individual Learning in Virtual Reality Designing a Flipped Classroom Course – a Process Model The Influence of Risk-Taking on Knowledge Exchange and Combination Gamified Feedback durch Avatare im Mobile Learning Alexa, Can You Help Me Solve That Problem? - Understanding the Value of Smart Personal Assistants as Tutors for Complex Problem Tasks Track 5: Data Science & Business Analytics Matching with Bundle Preferences: Tradeoff between Fairness and Truthfulness Applied image recognition: guidelines for using deep learning models in practice Yield Prognosis for the Agrarian Management of Vineyards using Deep Learning for Object Counting Reading Between the Lines of Qualitative Data – How to Detect Hidden Structure Based on Codes Online Auctions with Dual-Threshold Algorithms: An Experimental Study and Practical Evaluation Design Features of Non-Financial Reward Programs for Online Reviews: Evaluation based on Google Maps Data Topic Embeddings – A New Approach to Classify Very Short Documents Based on Predefined Topics Leveraging Unstructured Image Data for Product Quality Improvement Decision Support for Real Estate Investors: Improving Real Estate Valuation with 3D City Models and Points of Interest Knowledge Discovery from CVs: A Topic Modeling Procedure Online Product Descriptions – Boost for your Sales? Entscheidungsunterstützung durch historienbasierte Dienstreihenfolgeplanung mit Pattern A Semi-Automated Approach for Generating Online Review Templates Machine Learning goes Measure Management: Leveraging Anomaly Detection and Parts Search to Improve Product-Cost Optimization Bedeutung von Predictive Analytics für den theoretischen Erkenntnisgewinn in der IS-Forschung Track 6: Digitale Transformation und Dienstleistungen Heuristic Theorizing in Software Development: Deriving Design Principles for Smart Glasses-based Systems Mirroring E-service for Brick and Mortar Retail: An Assessment and Survey Taxonomy of Digital Platforms: A Platform Architecture Perspective Value of Star Players in the Digital Age Local Shopping Platforms – Harnessing Locational Advantages for the Digital Transformation of Local Retail Outlets: A Content Analysis A Socio-Technical Approach to Manage Analytics-as-a-Service – Results of an Action Design Research Project Characterizing Approaches to Digital Transformation: Development of a Taxonomy of Digital Units Expectations vs. Reality – Benefits of Smart Services in the Field of Tension between Industry and Science Innovation Networks and Digital Innovation: How Organizations Use Innovation Networks in a Digitized Environment Characterising Social Reading Platforms— A Taxonomy-Based Approach to Structure the Field Less Complex than Expected – What Really Drives IT Consulting Value Modularity Canvas – A Framework for Visualizing Potentials of Service Modularity Towards a Conceptualization of Capabilities for Innovating Business Models in the Industrial Internet of Things A Taxonomy of Barriers to Digital Transformation Ambidexterity in Service Innovation Research: A Systematic Literature Review Design and success factors of an online solution for cross-pillar pension information Track 7: IT-Management und -Strategie A Frugal Support Structure for New Software Implementations in SMEs How to Structure a Company-wide Adoption of Big Data Analytics The Changing Roles of Innovation Actors and Organizational Antecedents in the Digital Age Bewertung des Kundennutzens von Chatbots für den Einsatz im Servicedesk Understanding the Benefits of Agile Software Development in Regulated Environments Are Employees Following the Rules? On the Effectiveness of IT Consumerization Policies Agile and Attached: The Impact of Agile Practices on Agile Team Members’ Affective Organisational Commitment The Complexity Trap – Limits of IT Flexibility for Supporting Organizational Agility in Decentralized Organizations Platform Openness: A Systematic Literature Review and Avenues for Future Research Competence, Fashion and the Case of Blockchain The Digital Platform Otto.de: A Case Study of Growth, Complexity, and Generativity Track 8: eHealth & alternde Gesellschaft Security and Privacy of Personal Health Records in Cloud Computing Environments – An Experimental Exploration of the Impact of Storage Solutions and Data Breaches Patientenintegration durch Pfadsysteme Digitalisierung in der Stressprävention – eine qualitative Interviewstudie zu Nutzenpotenzialen User Dynamics in Mental Health Forums – A Sentiment Analysis Perspective Intent and the Use of Wearables in the Workplace – A Model Development Understanding Patient Pathways in the Context of Integrated Health Care Services - Implications from a Scoping Review Understanding the Habitual Use of Wearable Activity Trackers On the Fit in Fitness Apps: Studying the Interaction of Motivational Affordances and Users’ Goal Orientations in Affecting the Benefits Gained Gamification in Health Behavior Change Support Systems - A Synthesis of Unintended Side Effects Investigating the Influence of Information Incongruity on Trust-Relations within Trilateral Healthcare Settings Track 9: Krisen- und Kontinuitätsmanagement Potentiale von IKT beim Ausfall kritischer Infrastrukturen: Erwartungen, Informationsgewinnung und Mediennutzung der Zivilbevölkerung in Deutschland Fake News Perception in Germany: A Representative Study of People’s Attitudes and Approaches to Counteract Disinformation Analyzing the Potential of Graphical Building Information for Fire Emergency Responses: Findings from a Controlled Experiment Track 10: Human-Computer Interaction Towards a Taxonomy of Platforms for Conversational Agent Design Measuring Service Encounter Satisfaction with Customer Service Chatbots using Sentiment Analysis Self-Tracking and Gamification: Analyzing the Interplay of Motivations, Usage and Motivation Fulfillment Erfolgsfaktoren von Augmented-Reality-Applikationen: Analyse von Nutzerrezensionen mit dem Review-Mining-Verfahren Designing Dynamic Decision Support for Electronic Requirements Negotiations Who is Stressed by Using ICTs? A Qualitative Comparison Analysis with the Big Five Personality Traits to Understand Technostress Walking the Middle Path: How Medium Trade-Off Exposure Leads to Higher Consumer Satisfaction in Recommender Agents Theory-Based Affordances of Utilitarian, Hedonic and Dual-Purposed Technologies: A Literature Review Eliciting Customer Preferences for Shopping Companion Apps: A Service Quality Approach The Role of Early User Participation in Discovering Software – A Case Study from the Context of Smart Glasses The Fluidity of the Self-Concept as a Framework to Explain the Motivation to Play Video Games Heart over Heels? An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Emotions and Review Helpfulness for Experience and Credence Goods Track 11: Information Security and Information Privacy Unfolding Concerns about Augmented Reality Technologies: A Qualitative Analysis of User Perceptions To (Psychologically) Own Data is to Protect Data: How Psychological Ownership Determines Protective Behavior in a Work and Private Context Understanding Data Protection Regulations from a Data Management Perspective: A Capability-Based Approach to EU-GDPR On the Difficulties of Incentivizing Online Privacy through Transparency: A Qualitative Survey of the German Health Insurance Market What is Your Selfie Worth? A Field Study on Individuals’ Valuation of Personal Data Justification of Mass Surveillance: A Quantitative Study An Exploratory Study of Risk Perception for Data Disclosure to a Network of Firms Track 12: Umweltinformatik und nachhaltiges Wirtschaften Kommunikationsfäden im Nadelöhr – Fachliche Prozessmodellierung der Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation am Kapitalmarkt Potentiale und Herausforderungen der Materialflusskostenrechnung Computing Incentives for User-Based Relocation in Carsharing Sustainability’s Coming Home: Preliminary Design Principles for the Sustainable Smart District Substitution of hazardous chemical substances using Deep Learning and t-SNE A Hierarchy of DSMLs in Support of Product Life-Cycle Assessment A Survey of Smart Energy Services for Private Households Door-to-Door Mobility Integrators as Keystone Organizations of Smart Ecosystems: Resources and Value Co-Creation – A Literature Review Ein Entscheidungsunterstützungssystem zur ökonomischen Bewertung von Mieterstrom auf Basis der Clusteranalyse Discovering Blockchain for Sustainable Product-Service Systems to enhance the Circular Economy Digitale Rückverfolgbarkeit von Lebensmitteln: Eine verbraucherinformatische Studie Umweltbewusstsein durch audiovisuelles Content Marketing? Eine experimentelle Untersuchung zur Konsumentenbewertung nachhaltiger Smartphones Towards Predictive Energy Management in Information Systems: A Research Proposal A Web Browser-Based Application for Processing and Analyzing Material Flow Models using the MFCA Methodology Track 13: Digital Work - Social, mobile, smart On Conversational Agents in Information Systems Research: Analyzing the Past to Guide Future Work The Potential of Augmented Reality for Improving Occupational First Aid Prevent a Vicious Circle! The Role of Organizational IT-Capability in Attracting IT-affine Applicants Good, Bad, or Both? Conceptualization and Measurement of Ambivalent User Attitudes Towards AI A Case Study on Cross-Hierarchical Communication in Digital Work Environments ‘Show Me Your People Skills’ - Employing CEO Branding for Corporate Reputation Management in Social Media A Multiorganisational Study of the Drivers and Barriers of Enterprise Collaboration Systems-Enabled Change The More the Merrier? The Effect of Size of Core Team Subgroups on Success of Open Source Projects The Impact of Anthropomorphic and Functional Chatbot Design Features in Enterprise Collaboration Systems on User Acceptance Digital Feedback for Digital Work? Affordances and Constraints of a Feedback App at InsurCorp The Effect of Marker-less Augmented Reality on Task and Learning Performance Antecedents for Cyberloafing – A Literature Review Internal Crowd Work as a Source of Empowerment - An Empirical Analysis of the Perception of Employees in a Crowdtesting Project Track 14: Geschäftsmodelle und digitales Unternehmertum Dividing the ICO Jungle: Extracting and Evaluating Design Archetypes Capturing Value from Data: Exploring Factors Influencing Revenue Model Design for Data-Driven Services Understanding the Role of Data for Innovating Business Models: A System Dynamics Perspective Business Model Innovation and Stakeholder: Exploring Mechanisms and Outcomes of Value Creation and Destruction Business Models for Internet of Things Platforms: Empirical Development of a Taxonomy and Archetypes Revitalizing established Industrial Companies: State of the Art and Success Principles of Digital Corporate Incubators When 1+1 is Greater than 2: Concurrence of Additional Digital and Established Business Models within Companies Special Track 1: Student Track Investigating Personalized Price Discrimination of Textile-, Electronics- and General Stores in German Online Retail From Facets to a Universal Definition – An Analysis of IoT Usage in Retail Is the Technostress Creators Inventory Still an Up-To-Date Measurement Instrument? Results of a Large-Scale Interview Study Application of Media Synchronicity Theory to Creative Tasks in Virtual Teams Using the Example of Design Thinking TrustyTweet: An Indicator-based Browser-Plugin to Assist Users in Dealing with Fake News on Twitter Application of Process Mining Techniques to Support Maintenance-Related Objectives How Voice Can Change Customer Satisfaction: A Comparative Analysis between E-Commerce and Voice Commerce Business Process Compliance and Blockchain: How Does the Ethereum Blockchain Address Challenges of Business Process Compliance? Improving Business Model Configuration through a Question-based Approach The Influence of Situational Factors and Gamification on Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Evaluation von ITSM-Tools für Integration und Management von Cloud-Diensten am Beispiel von ServiceNow How Software Promotes the Integration of Sustainability in Business Process Management Criteria Catalog for Industrial IoT Platforms from the Perspective of the Machine Tool Industry Special Track 3: Demos & Prototyping Privacy-friendly User Location Tracking with Smart Devices: The BeaT Prototype Application-oriented robotics in nursing homes Augmented Reality for Set-up Processe Mixed Reality for supporting Remote-Meetings Gamification zur Motivationssteigerung von Werkern bei der Betriebsdatenerfassung Automatically Extracting and Analyzing Customer Needs from Twitter: A “Needmining” Prototype GaNEsHA: Opportunities for Sustainable Transportation in Smart Cities TUCANA: A platform for using local processing power of edge devices for building data-driven services Demonstrator zur Beschreibung und Visualisierung einer kritischen Infrastruktur Entwicklung einer alltagsnahen persuasiven App zur Bewegungsmotivation für ältere Nutzerinnen und Nutzer A browser-based modeling tool for studying the learning of conceptual modeling based on a multi-modal data collection approach Exergames & Dementia: An interactive System for People with Dementia and their Care-Network Workshops Workshop Ethics and Morality in Business Informatics (Workshop Ethik und Moral in der Wirtschaftsinformatik – EMoWI’19) Model-Based Compliance in Information Systems - Foundations, Case Description and Data Set of the MobIS-Challenge for Students and Doctoral Candidates Report of the Workshop on Concepts and Methods of Identifying Digital Potentials in Information Management Control of Systemic Risks in Global Networks - A Grand Challenge to Information Systems Research Die Mitarbeiter von morgen - Kompetenzen künftiger Mitarbeiter im Bereich Business Analytics Digitaler Konsum: Herausforderungen und Chancen der Verbraucherinformati

7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21)

Information and communication technologies together with new teaching paradigms are reshaping the learning environment.The International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd) aims to become a forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas, experiences,opinions and research results relating to the preparation of students and the organization of educational systems.Doménech I De Soria, J.; Merello Giménez, P.; Poza Plaza, EDL. (2021). 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD21.2021.13621EDITORIA