Constructionism of virtual humans to improve perceptions of conversational partners

Authors:
Shivashankar Halan;Brent Rossen;Michael Crary;Benjamin Lok
Affiliations:
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA;University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA;University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA;University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Venue:
CHI '12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
2012

Citing 2
Cited 0

Human-Centered Distributed Conversational Modeling: Efficient Modeling of Robust Virtual Human Conversations

IVA '09 Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents
A crowdsourcing method to develop virtual human conversational agents

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

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Abstract

We propose a methodology to help people improve the accuracy of their mental model of a conversational partner by creating a virtual human representation of the partner. By creating a virtual human, the users will be able to transfer their mental model of the partner to a virtual human representation. Other people can then interact with the virtual human and provide feedback. The feedback will help the creator reduce the gap between their mental model of a partner and the actual qualities of the partner. Reducing this gap in perception is important in learning interpersonal skills. We implemented this methodology in a health professions course using Virtual People Factory, an online application for creating and interacting with virtual humans. The applicability of the methodology to reduce gaps in perception models was investigated through a user study with health professions students (n=32). The results indicate that students can reduce gaps in perceptions of conversational partners by creating virtual humans.