solvenetlife

FROMBROWSTOTRUSTHUMAN-COMPUTERINTERACTIONSERIESVOLUME7Editors-in-ChiefJohnKarat,IBMThomasWatsonResearchCenter(USA)JeanVanderdonckt,UniversitéCatholiquedeLouvain(Belgium)Editorial-BoardGregoryAbowd,GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology(USA)GalleCalvary,IIHM-CLIPS-IMAG(France)JohnCarroll,SchoolofInformationSciences&Technology,PennStateUniversity(USA)GilbertCockton,UniversityofSunderland(UnitedKingdom)MaryCzerwinski,MicrosoftResearch(USA)SteveFeiner,ColumbiaUniversity(USA)ElizabethFurtado,UniversityofFortaleza(Brazil)KristianaHk,SICS(Sweden)RobertJacob,TuftsUniversity(USA)RobinJeffries,SunMicrosystems(USA)PeterJohnson,UniversityofBath(UnitedKingdom)KumiyoNakakoji,UniversityofTokyo(Japan)PhilippePalanque,UniversitéPaulSabatier(France)OscarPastor,UniversityofValencia(Spain)FabioPaternò,CNUCE-CNR(Italy)CostinPribeanu,NationalInstituteforResearch&DevelopmentinInformatics(Romania)MarilynSalzman,SalzmanConsulting(USA)ChrisSchmandt,MassachussettsInstituteofTechnology(USA)MarkusStolze,IBMZürich(Switzerland)GerdSzwillus,UniversittPaderborn(Germany)ManfredTscheligi,CenterforUsabilityResearchandEngineering(Austria)GerritvanderVeer,VrijeUniversiteitAmsterdam(TheNetherlands)ShuminZhai,IBMAlmadenResearchCenter(USA)FromBrowstoTrustEvaluatingEmbodiedConversationalAgentsEditedbyZsófiaRuttkayandCatherinePelachaudKLUWERACADEMICPUBLISHERSNEWYORK,BOSTON,DORDRECHT,LONDON,MOSCOWeBookISBN:1-4020-2730-3PrintISBN:1-4020-2729-X2005SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,Inc.
Print2004KluwerAcademicPublishersAllrightsreservedNopartofthiseBookmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,recording,orotherwise,withoutwrittenconsentfromthePublisherCreatedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaVisitSpringer'seBookstoreat:http://ebooks.
springerlink.
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springeronline.
comDordrechtContentsContributingAuthorsviiPrefacexvPartIEvaluationMethodology1.
TheBlindMenandtheElephantRevisited3KatherineIsbisterandPatrickDoyle2.
EmbodiedConversationalAgentsonaCommonGround27ZsoaRuttkay,ClaireDormann,andHanNoot3.
EmpiricalEvaluationMethodologyforEmbodiedConversationalAgents67NoorChristoph4.
EvaluatingUsers'ReactionstoHuman-LikeInterfaces101LoredanaCerratoandSusanneEkeklintPartIITheUserinFocus5.
User-CentredDesignandEvaluationofAectiveInterfaces127KristinaH¨o¨ok6.
'UserasAssessor'ApproachtoEmbodiedConversationalAgents161CliordNass,EricaRobles,andQianyingWangPartIIIEvaluationofECAs7.
MoreaboutBrows191EmielKrahmerandMarcSwerts8.
EvaluationofMultimodalBehaviourofEmbodiedAgents217StephanieBuisine,SarkisAbrilian,andJean-ClaudeMartin9.
ECAasUserInterfaceParadigm239RichardCatrambone,JohnStasko,andJunXiaoviContentsPartIVEvaluationofApplications10.
TalkingtoDigitalFish271CourtneyDarvesandSharonOviatt11.
ExperimentalEvaluationoftheUseofECAsineCommerceApplications293HazelMorton,HelenMcBreen,andMervynJack12.
WhatwecanLearnfromAvatar-drivenInternetCommunities323BrigitteKrenn,BarbaraNeumayr,ChristophSchmotzer,andMartineGriceContributingAuthorsSarkisAbrilianisaresearcherattheLaboratoired'InformatiquepourlaMecaniqueetlesSciencesdel'Ingenieur-CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientique(LIMSI-CNRS)inFrance,workingintheeldofmultimodalhuman-computerinterfaces.
HegraduatedinComputerSciencesandCognitiveSciences.
Hehasmainlyworkedonthedesignofmultimodalinputinterfacesforinteractingwith2DagentsandonthedenitionoftheTycoonMarkupLanguageinXML,forrepresent-ingthemultimodalbehaviouroftheseagents.
Hecanbecontactedat:sarkis@limsi.
fr.
StephanieBuisineiscurrentlyaPhDstudentinCognitivePsychologyattheLaboratoired'InformatiquepourlaMecaniqueetlesSciencesdel'Ingenieur-CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientique(LIMSI-CNRS)inFrance.
Sheholdsanacademicmaster'sdegreeinExperimentalPsy-chologyandaprofessionalmaster'sdegreeinErgonomics.
Herresearchinterestsfocusonbi-directionalmultimodalinterfaces,especiallyexper-imentalevaluationofmultimodalinterfaceswithandwithoutECAs,andmodelofuser'smultimodalbehaviourwheninteractingwithsuchsystems.
Shecanbecontactedat:stephanie.
buisine@limsi.
fr.
RichardCatramboneisanAssociateProfessorintheSchoolofPsy-chologyattheGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology.
HereceivedhisB.
A.
fromGrinnellCollege(Iowa,USA)in1982andhisPhDinExperimen-talPsychologyfromtheUniversityofMichigan(USA)in1988.
Hisresearchinterestsincludeproblemsolving,analogicalreasoning,edu-cationaltechnology,andhuman-computerinteractionwithafocusonusingcognitiveprinciplesforthedesignofteachingandtrainingmate-rialthathelpsstudentslearnbasictasksquicklyandpromotestransfertonovelproblems.
HehasservedontheeditorialboardsoftheJournalofExperimentalPsychology:GeneralandtheJournalofExperimentalPsychology:Appliedandhaspublishedinthosejournalsandavarietyofothers.
Hecanbecontactedat:rc7@prism.
gatech.
edu.
LoredanaCerratoisaPhDstudentatthedepartmentofSpeechMusingandHearing(TMH/CTT)attheRoyalInstituteofTechnol-ogy(KTH)inStockholm,andisaparticipantintheSwedishGradu-ateSchoolofLanguageTechnology.
ShereceivedherMaster'sdegreeyouviiiContributingAuthorsmaywanttouseMA,likeallothersdoinForeignLanguagesandLin-guisticsfromtheUniversityofNaples'FedericoII'(Italy)in1992.
Hercurrentresearchisconcernedwiththeanalysisoffeedbackphenomenainhuman-humanandhuman-machinecommunication.
Particularatten-tionispaidtotheanalysisofprosodicandgesturalcuesoffeedbackex-pressionsacrossdierentmodalitiesandacrossdierentlanguages.
Themainaimoftheinvestigationistoformalizesomeaspectsofhumancom-municationthatcanbeimplementedinthedesignofhuman-computerinterfaces.
Shecanbecontactedat:loredana@speech.
kth.
se.
NoorChristophisaPhDstudentattheDepartmentofSocialSci-enceInformaticsatUniversityofAmsterdam.
ShehasbeeninvolvedinvariousEuropeanUnionfundedprojects.
TheLilienthalaimedatdevel-opingandevaluatinganinteractivelearningenvironmentfortheoreticalinstructionofairlinepilots.
TheKITSprojectfocusedondevelopingandevaluatingagamingsimulationenvironmentforthedomainofknowl-edgemanagement.
InherPhDsheaddressestheroleofmetacognitiveskillsonlearningtosolveill-denedproblems.
Shecanbecontactedat:noor@swi.
psy.
uva.
nl.
CourtneyDarvesiscurrentlyaPhDstudentintheDepartmentofPsychologyattheUniversityofOregon.
Herresearchfocusesbroadlyonadaptivehumanbehaviour,bothinthecontextofhuman-computerinteractionandmoregenerallyintermsofneuralplasticity.
Shecanbecontactedat:courtney@alumni.
reed.
edu.
ClaireDormanniscurrentlyaresearcherattheHumanOrientedTech-nologyLab,CarletonUniversity,Canada.
HerbackgroundisPsychologyandComputerGraphics.
HerPhDaddressedhuman-computerinterac-tionandrhetoric.
SheparticipatedintheprojectGAIA(GenericAr-chitectureforInformationAvailability)tosupportelectronicbrokerageandmultimediainthehome.
Lately,shebecameinterestedinECAsandvirtualenvironment.
Herresearchinterestsincludeusabilityevaluation,aectiveapplications,computermediatedpersuasion,andemotionsandhumourinuserinterfaces.
Someofherrecentworksrelatestoevalua-tion,emotionalappeal,andculturaldierences.
Shecanbecontactedat:cdormann@ccs.
carleton.
ca.
PatrickDoyleisadoctoralcandidateintheKnowledgeSystemsLabo-ratoryatStanfordUniversity.
Hisresearchfocusesonembeddingknowl-ContributingAuthorsixedgeinvirtualenvironmentsthatECAscanusetoimproveboththeiref-fectivenessandthequalityoftheirbelievability.
HisinterestsalsoincludethedesignofECAarchitecturesandthesocialandpsychologicalissuesinbuildingECAinterfaces.
Hehasdesignedandtaughtseveralcoursesonthecreationofintelligentcharacters,withanemphasisontheiruseincomputergames.
Hecanbecontactedat:pdoyle@cs.
stanford.
edu.
SusanneEkeklintisaPhDstudentattheSchoolofMathematicsandSystemsEngineeringatV¨axj¨oUniversityinSweden.
SheisalsooneoftheparticipantsinGraduateSchoolofLanguageTechnology(GSLT),whichiscollaborationbetweenleadingcentresofresearchandteach-inginlanguagetechnologyinSweden.
HerPhDthesisconcernsinfor-mationrequestsespeciallynaturallanguagequestions,mainlywithre-specttoopen-domainquestionansweringsystems.
ShegraduatedfromG¨oteborgsUniversitywithaMasterinComputationallinguistics2000.
Shecanbecontactedat:sek@msi.
vxu.
se.
MartineGriceisProfessorofPhoneticsatCologneUniversity,Ger-many.
SheholdsanMAandPhDinLinguistics,andaHabilitationinPhoneticsandPhonology.
Hermainareaofresearchisintonationtheory,inparticularthestructureoftonalrepresentations,andthere-lationbetweenprosodyandarticulatorygestures.
Shehasdevelopedschemesforthedatabaseannotationoftonalandjuncturalphenomena,bothforStandardGerman(GToBI)andforanumberofvarietiesofItalian(IToBI).
Sheisalsocurrentlyinvestigatingtheinteractionbe-tweenlinguisticandparalinguisticfactorsdeterminingvoicequalityandintonation.
Shecanbecontactedat:mgrice@coli.
uni-sb.
de.
KristinaH¨o¨okiscurrentlyworkingasaProfessorattheDepartmentofComputerandSystemsSciencesatStockholmUniversity.
Shealsoholdsapart-timepositionatSwedishInstituteofComputerScience(SICS).
Herresearchhasfocusedrstonuser-centreddesignofhuman-computerinteractionfromasituatedactionapproachasreectedinherthesis,andthenonsocialnavigation,followingthetracesofothers,asanalternativewaytoachieveadaptivityintheinterface.
Herworkonaectiveinteractionfollowsthesamelineofreasoning:auser-centredapproachandabetterbasisinhowhumancognitionreallyworkswillachievebetterdesignofinteractionthantheory-ortechnology-drivenapproaches.
Shecanbecontactedat:kia@dsv.
su.
se.
xContributingAuthorsKatherineIsbisterisavisitingscholarintheCommunicationDe-partmentatStanfordUniversity.
SheteachesacourseintheComputerScienceDepartment'sHumanComputerInteractionseriesonthedesignofcharactersforcomputergames.
IsbisterreceivedherPhDandMAfromStanford,withafocusonusingprinciplesfrompsychologytode-signembodiedagents.
HerresearchinterestsincludedevelopingECAsandsociallyaugmentedavatarstosupportinter-culturalcontexts,andinvestigatingthepsychologicalfoundationsofsuccessfulgamecharac-ters,towardsbroaderapplicationsoftheseprinciplesinECAandsocialinterfacedesign.
Shecanbecontactedat:ki@katherineinterface.
com.
MervynJackisProfessorofElectronicSystemsattheUniversityofEdinburgh.
AFellowoftheRoyalSocietyofEdinburgh,heleadsamulti-disciplinaryteamoftwentyresearchersinvestigatingUsabilityengineer-ingofeCommerceservices.
HismainresearchinterestsaredialogueengineeringandvirtualrealitysystemsdesignforadvancedeCommerceandconsumerapplications.
Heisauthorofsome230scienticpapersand5textbooks.
Hecanbecontactedat:Mervyn.
Jack@ed.
ac.
uk.
EmielKrahmerisanAssistantProfessorintheCommunicationandCognitiongroupatTilburgUniversity.
HehasanMA(1991)andaPhD(1995)incomputationallinguistics,bothfromTilburgUniversity.
AftercompletinghisPhDheworkedforsixyearsatCenterforUserSystemInteraction(IPO)attheEindhovenUniversityofTechnology.
Hisresearchconcentratesonmultimodalinformationpresentation,withanemphasisonspokenlanguagegenerationandaudio-visualprosody.
Hecanbecontactedat:e.
j.
krahmer@uvt.
nl.
BrigitteKrennisSeniorScientistattheAustrianResearchInstituteforArticialIntelligence.
SheholdsaMaster'sDegreeinGermanLan-guageandLiterature,Psychology,PhilosophyandPedagogy,andaPhDinComputationalLinguistics.
Since1990shehasworkedinavarietyofresearchprojectsintheeldofcomputationallinguistics.
Hercur-rentresearchfocusesonanimatedconversationalcharactertechnology,includingmultimodalinteractionandaectivecommunication.
Shecanbecontactedat:brigitte@ai.
univie.
ac.
at.
Jean-ClaudeMartinisAssistantProfessorandheadoftheConversa-tionalAgentsTeamcreatedin2003withintheArchitectureandMod-elsforInteractionGroup(AMI)atLIMSI-CNRS,France.
HisresearchContributingAuthorsxiconcernsmultimodalcommunicationincludingtypologiesofcooperationbetweenmodalities;creation,annotation,andanalysisofcorporaofmul-timodalhuman-humanandhuman-computerinteractions,designofbi-directionalmultimodalinterfacesandtheirapplicationtouserinterfaceofgames.
HehasbeeninvolvedinEuropeanresearchprojectaboutInternationalStandardsforLanguageEngineering(IST-ISLE),NaturalInteractiveCommunicationforEdutainment(NICE),ComputerMedi-atedCommunication(MagicLounge).
Hecanbecontactedat:mar-tin@limsi.
fr.
HelenMcBreencurrentlyworksasaResearchEngineerwithDigitalFashionLimited,Osaka,Japan.
Shecompletedherpostdoctoralre-searchatTheUniversityofEdinburghin2002underthesupervisionofProfessorMervynJack.
Herthesis,entitled"EmbodiedConversationalAgents:ExtendingthePersonaMetaphortoVirtualResearchEnviron-ments"explored,throughextendedempiricalevaluation,theusabilityof3DconversationalcharactersinavarietyofeRetailapplications.
Herresearchonthesubjecthasbeenpublishedinnotableproceedings,jour-nalsandbooks.
Shecanbecontactedat:helenmcbreen@yahoo.
co.
ukHazelMortonisaResearchAssociateattheCentreforCommuni-cationInterfaceResearchattheUniversityofEdinburgh.
SheholdsaMastersdegreeinEnglish,aMastersdegreeinAppliedLinguisticsandiscurrentlypursuingaPhD.
Herworkinvolvesexperimentalde-sign,testingandevaluationofapplicationswithconversationalagents,withparticularinterestintheperceivedpersonalityofagentsandtheevaluationoftheeectivenessanduseracceptabilityofanimatedcon-versationalagentsineCommerceandeLearningapplications.
Shecanbecontactedat:Hazel.
Morton@ccir.
ed.
ac.
uk.
BarbaraNeumayrisresponsibleforproductdevelopmentwithinthesysisNetLifeplatformandforprojectmanagementofresearchprojects.
Asaco-founderoftheAustriancompanysysis,shehasbeenworkingforsysisonaparttimebasissince1994.
Followingherstudiesofbusinessadminstrationandeconomics,shehadworkedasanassistantprofessorinbothteachingandresearchattheViennaUniversityofEconomicsandBusinessAdministrationforfouryearsbeforejoiningsysisonafulltimebasisin2000.
Shecanbecontactedat:barbara.
neumayr@sysis.
at.
xiiContributingAuthorsHanNootisasoftwareengineerattheCenterforMathematicsandComputerScience(CWI)intheNetherlands.
HehasanMAintheoreti-calphysics(1973).
Hisprofessionalinterestsincludecomputergraphics,lip-syncvisualspeechandcomputeranimationsystems.
Hecanbecon-tactedat:han@cwi.
nl.
SharonOviattisaProfessorandCo-DirectoroftheCenterforHuman-ComputerCommunication(CHCC)intheDept.
ofComputerScienceatOregonHealthandScienceUniversity(OHSU).
Herresearchfocusesonhuman-computerinteraction,spokenlanguageandmultimodalinter-faces,andmobileandhighlyinteractivesystems.
Examplesofrecentworkinvolvethedevelopmentofnoveldesignconceptsformultimodalandmobileinterfaces,robustinterfacesforreal-worldeldenvironmentsanddiverseusers,andadaptiveconversationalinterfaceswithanimatedsoftwarepartners.
SheisanactivememberoftheinternationalHCI,speechandmultimodalcommunities.
Shecanbecontactedat:ovi-att@cse.
ogi.
edu.
CatherinePelachaudiscurrentlyaprofessorattheIUTofMontreuil,UniversityofParis8,directingtheresearchteam'TechnologyandCom-munication'.
ShehasbeeninvolvedinresearchonEmbodiedConversa-tionalAgentforalongtime,lookingatseveralaspectssuchasthelinkbetweenfacialexpressionandintonation,lipmovementsandcoarticula-tion,facialandgesturecommunicativebehaviours.
Shehasbeenpartici-pantinseveralEU-projectsaswellasshewasco-organisersofworkshopsonECAs.
Hercurrentresearchinterestincludesconversationalagentandhumanbehavioursimulation,individualagentsandrepresentationlanguageforagent.
Shecanbecontactedat:c.
pelachaud@iut.
univ-paris8.
fr.
ZsoaRuttkayisseniorresearchattheCenterforMathematicsandComputerScience(CWI)inAmsterdam,wheresheisheadofthegroup'SocialUserInterfaces'.
Shehasbeendoingresearchonfacialanima-tion,handgesturingandstyleforECAs.
Shewasinvolvedinempiricalevaluationoftalkingheads.
WithabackgroundinAI,sheappliedcon-straintsatisfactiontodenefacialexpressionsinadeclarativeway,andusedlogicprogrammingforhandgesturing.
Sheisalsointerestedinbeyondrealismpossibilitiesforvirtualcharacters;shewasco-authoroftheCharToonsystemtomodelandanimatecartoontalkingheads.
Shecanbecontactedat:zsoa.
ruttkay@cwi.
nl.
ContributingAuthorsxiiiChristophSchmotzerhasbeenworkingforsysisinAustriaasacon-tentdeveloper,projectmanagerandusabilityresearcher.
HeholdsanMAdegreeinPsychologyfromtheUniversityofVienna.
Hisfocusofresearchliesonempiricalstudydesign,testconstruction,psychologicaldiagnosisandmediapsychology.
Majorareasofhiscurrentworkatsysisarepsychologicalusermodeling,gamedesignandinterfaceergonomics.
Hecanbecontactedat:christoph.
schmotzer@sysis.
at.
JohnStaskoisanAssociateProfessorintheCollegeofComputingandtheGVUCenterattheGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,whereheisDirectoroftheInformationInterfacesresearchgroup.
HereceivedtheBSdegreeinmathematicsfromBucknellUniversityin1983andtheScMandPhDdegreesincomputersciencefromBrownUniversityin1985and1989.
HisresearchinterestsarebroadlyinHCI,withaparticularfocusoninformationvisualization,userinterfaces,andsoftwareagents.
Hehasbeenauthororco-authorofover80journalandconferencepapers.
Hecanbecontactedat:stasko@cc.
gatech.
edu.
MarcSwertsisnowaseniorresearcherintheCommunicationandCog-nitiongroupatTilburgUniversity.
Heworksontheproject'Functionsofaudiovisualprosody',sponsoredbytheNetherlandsOrganisationforScienticResearch(NWO).
AfterhavingstudiedGermaniclinguisticsatAntwerpUniversity,MarcSwertsgotaPh.
D.
(1994)inexperimen-talphoneticsfromtheEindhovenUniversityofTechnology.
ThenheworkedasavisitingresearcheratvariousinstitutesintheUSA,Japan,SwedenandItaly.
Hecanbereachedat:m.
g.
j.
swerts@uvt.
nl.
QianyingWangisaPhDcandidateofStanfordUniversity,Com-municationDepartment.
HeradvisorisProfessorCliordNass.
SheisinterestedinHuman-ComputerInteraction,humanfactors,cogni-tiveandsocialpsychology.
From1997till2001,QianyingworkedasastaresearchmemberforIBMResearchandearnedmultipleIBMResearchdivisionawards.
Sheistheauthorofnineledpatentsworld-wide.
QianyingearnedherB.
S.
andaM.
S.
cumlaudeinElectricEn-gineeringfromShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity.
Shecanbereachedat:wangqy@stanford.
edu.
JunXiaoisaPhDstudentintheCollegeofComputingatGeorgiaIn-stituteofTechnology.
Hisresearchfocusesontheevaluationofinterfaceagents.
Inparticular,heisgatheringasetofexperimentaldatathroughxivContributingAuthorsempiricalstudiestoprovideinsightsforunderstandingtheconditionsunderwhichuserscouldbestbenetfrominteractionswithinterfaceagents.
HereceivedhisB.
SinComputerSciencefromFudanUniversityinShanghai.
Shecanbereachedat:junxiao@cc.
gatech.
edu.
PrefaceEmbodiedconversationalagents(ECAs)aremoreorlessautonomousandintelligentsoftwareentitieswithanembodimentusedtocommuni-catewiththeuser.
Theyhaveenteredtheresearcheldsome10yearsago,andinrecentyearstherstcommercialapplicationshavebeenlaunched.
TheECAmayactasanapprenticefortheuserinperformingsometaskbyatraditionalpieceofsoftware(likethePaperClipprovid-inghelponusingMSWord),takeaspecicrolewell-knownfromreal-lifescenarios(e.
g.
actingasasalespersonoratutor),orrepresentindivid-ualsinvirtualenvironmentswithorwithoutparallelsinreallife,suchaschatforumsormulti-usergames.
OnecancomeacrossawiderangeoftechnicaltermsforECAs:avatarsarerepresentativesofanddirectlycontrolledbyusers;inthecaseoftalkingheadstheembodimentisaheadwiththecapabilityofspeech.
Othertermslikevirtualcharactersorhu-manoidshavebeenusedtoo,emphasizingyetfurthercharacteristicsofagents.
Thediversityoftermsisrelatedtothatofthedecisionstaken(someofthemapparentlyself-evident)whendesigninganECA.
Forinstance,toconveysomeinformationinamosteectiveway,onedesignermayassumethatthebestsolutionistocreateatalkinghead,whileanothermaychooseatorsowithgesticulatinghands,orevenafullbodywithchangingpostures.
WhichdesigndecisiontopreferThemoremodali-tiesused,thebetterShouldtheembodimentbeanthropomorphic,andasrealisticaspossibleWhatarethefeaturesnecessarytomakesuchanimpressionShouldtheagentbeinvadingandomni-presentShoulditbepro-activeIsitgoodorbadtogivetheimpressionofhumanintelligencebythebehaviour,whiletheunderlyingprocessingismuchmorelimitedthanthatofrealpeopleQuestionsliketheseareessentialfortheresearchanddevelopmentofECAs.
However,formostofthemnosimpleanswerisavailable.
Thereasonsaremanifold.
Firstofall,astheresearcheldisstillveryyoung,researchershavebeenfocusingonsomespecicproblemswhicharepre-requisitesfordevelopingfull-edgedmultimodalECAs:e.
g.
tomodelmusclecontractionandwrinkleappearance,togetthehandsmove,ortoletfacestalkwithacceptablequality.
Todeveloptheaccurateuseofsinglemodalities,likesyntheticspeechsoundingasrealspeech,oreyesgazinglikearealhumandoesrequiresyearsofresearchbyspecialists.
Moreover,theevaluationofsinglemodalitiesoftencannotbedonewith-outtakingintoaccountthe(unwanted)inuenceofothermodalities.
xviPrefaceThecontextbecomesricherwhenoneisinterestedintheaddedvalueofECAs.
Therehavebeenafewdemonstratorsdevelopedintheresearchcommunitytoshowthepotentialsofthetechnologyinapplicationsliketutoringorinformationservices.
Thediversityofthetechniques,toolsandtermsused,thecontextofusingtheECAandthedierencesintheevaluationsettingmakesitdiculttoassesstheresults.
Secondly,thoughthecommercialmass-applicationofECAsisnowemerging,thereishardlyanyfeedbackonthestrongpointsorthedecienciesoftheseapplications.
Thirdly,human-humancommunicationitselfisextremelycomplex.
Themechanismsofusingmodalitiesdependonfactorslikeculture,personalfeaturesandtheparticularsituation.
Onecanturntodisciplineslikepsychologyandsociologyforafoundationofcom-putationalmodelsofcomplexphenomenasuchasculture,emotionorpersonality.
Thesedisciplinesprovidesomeverypreciousqualitativeandquantitativeinformationthatareindispensabletoconsider.
Buttheapproachundertakenbythesedisciplines(oftenworkingfromex-amplestotheory)aswellastheintrinsiccomplexityofthephenomena(theenormousquantityoffactorstoconsiderandthevariousaspectstointegrate)domakeitdiculttocreatesuccinctcomputationalmodelsofallaspectsofhuman-likecommunicationalphenomenaneededforagivenapplicationcontext.
Finally,theempiricalevaluationofECAshastobedoneinamethodologicallysoundway,which,initself,hastobeestablishedforresearchingthisnewmedium.
Thisisparticularlyim-portantasithastobeidentiedwhataspectsarerelevanttobelookedat,andalsohowtomeasurethese,oftensubjectiveandnotsuccinctlydenedaspects.
Inthepresentvolume,wefocusonmethodologiesforevaluatingECAs.
TheECAtechnologyhasbecomematureenoughforevaluation,andseveralauthors,bothadvocatesandopponentsofthetechnologyhavepointedoutthenecessityofthis(seee.
g.
,theChapterbyCatram-boneetal.
foranoverview).
Webelievethatevaluationisessentialformanyreasons.
Morally,theresearchcommunityshouldbeawareofthepotentialsofthetechnologybeingdeveloped.
Itisathrillingpositiontobeabletocreatesynthetichumansandtoexploitthepowerofthistechnologytoinuencerealpeople.
WhatsocialrolecouldanECAhave,ifitisabletoengageandmaintainaconversationwithauserWouldECAasageneralnewuserinterfaceturnusers'lazyandstupid'Forinstance,apro-activeECAmaynotonlysavesomeeortsbyperformingatedioustask(likegatheringinformationfromtheweb)onbehalfoftheuser,butmayperformevaluations,makesuggestionsoreventakedecisionsPrefacexviiinsteadoftheuser.
TowhichdegreeshouldanECAbeallowedtofoolusersasbeingsobelievablethattheusersmistakehimforarealpersonFromamorepragmaticpointofview,acommonterminologyandsoundevaluationresultswithclearlystatedscopewouldfosterfurtherdevelopment.
ResearchescouldrelyondesignguidelinesonhowanECAshouldusecertainmodalitiestoexhibitcertainqualities,aswellasonwhatqualitiesofanECAareessentialforacertainapplicationcontext.
Whilethere-useandadaptationofmodelsandlow-levelcapabilities(forexamplefastinversekinematicsforhandpositioningorTTSenginesforspeech)becomecommon,there-useofknowledge,modelsoralgorithmstodesignECAstosuitparticularexpectationsishamperedbythelackofinsightintothescopeofapplicabilityofindividualrecommendations.
Forabroaderscienticcontext,arealistic,detailedandbyexper-imentallyveriedassessmentoftheprosofECAswouldhelptogainrecognitionforthetechnologyasanewformofhuman-computerinter-action.
Bypresentingtheresultandsettingaresearchagendagroundedonevaluation,weshouldbeabletoavoidthatECAresearchwillgothroughalife-curvesimilartothatofthemachinetranslationofnaturallanguages:aftertherstsmallbutspectacularresultstheexpectationsweresetunrealisticallyhigh,whichledtothehibernationofapromisingresearcheld.
Lastbutnotleast,evaluationisessentialtotherealsuccessfulappli-cationsofECAs,wheretheECAhasaddedeectindimensionsotherthantheattractionofnovelty.
InthisvolumewehavecollectedrecentworksonmostoftheaboveintroduceddierentaspectsofECAevaluation.
Theconceptandmostofthecontentsofthebookaretheresultoftheworkshopon"Embodiedconversationalagents—let'sspecifyandevaluatethem!
",heldatthe2002AAMASconferenceinMontreal.
TheworksinPartIaddressECAdesignandevaluationfromamethodologicalpointofview.
TheChapterbyIsbisterandDoylegivesanoverviewofthediverseopinionsjustaboutunderstandingthecon-ceptECA,thenecessityforturningthe'crafting'practiceintoamaturediscipline,andoutlinesaresearchagendaforthenecessarilyinterdisci-plinaryresearch.
TheChapterbyRuttkayetal.
discussestheproblemsinherentindesigningandevaluatingECAsduetothelackofcommonunderstandingofterms,objectivesandsuccesscriteria.
Theyproposeacommontaxonomyforthedesignparametersandevaluationaspectsanddiscusswaystomeasuretheseaspects.
TheChapterbyNoorlooksatECAevaluationfromthebroadercontextofevaluatinguserinter-faces.
Thischapterisa'quickguide'onwhenandhowtodoempiricalevaluationinaproperway,fromidentifyingthegoalsviaselectingthexviiiPrefacerightsubjectgroupstointerpretingcollecteddata.
Finally,theChap-terbyCerratoandEkeklintsuggeststouseprosodicandparalinguisticfeaturesasnovelmeasuresforusersatisfactionbasedonthestudyofcorpusesofreal-lifeapplications.
PartIIconsistsoftwopaperswhichputtheuserinthefocus.
H¨o¨okclaimsthattheuserandheraectivefeedbackhavetobeamaindrivingfactorforECAevaluationanddesign.
Shealsopointsoutthechallengesandpitfallsofinducingandinterpretingaectivereactionsbylookingatthreeexampleapplicationsfromherownpractice.
Sheproposesatwo-tieredapproachfordesignandevaluation.
Nassetal.
arguethatECAsshouldappearashumansintheirbehaviour,anditisnottheactualcapabilitybuttheappearancewhichtheuserwillassess.
TheygiveguidelinesbasedonanextensivebodyofpsychologicalstudiesonhowtomakeanECAbeperceivedasifitwerepayingattentiontotheuser.
PartIIIconsistsofmicro-levelevaluationstudies,wherethetargetofevaluationisasingleaspectofanECA.
HowtochoosethemanyparametersfortheECAembodimentinordertoachievesomeperfor-manceForinstance,whatshouldtheeyebrowsbedoingduringspeechItturnsout,asinvestigatedintheChapterbyKrahmerandSwerts,thateyebrowmovementshaveadierentroleintheperceptionoffocusforspeakersofItalianandDutch,whichhasimplicationonECAdesignwithrespecttothelanguagespokenbytheECA.
Thuswhentranslatingvisualspeech,itisnotsucienttogetthevisemesandlip-synchrightonly.
Another,somewhatsimilarquestionisifandhowhandgesturesshouldbeused.
Buisineetal.
lookedattheeectofmultimodalstrate-giesusedforcombiningverbalandnonverbalbehaviorforthedesignofECAs.
Accordingtotheirsmall-scaleexperiment,thereisadierenceinpreferencedependingongenderoftheuser.
Catramboneetal.
presenthereapieceofworkmeanttobetherststepinaseriesofsystem-aticevaluationstudiestojudgetheutilityofECAs.
Firsttheysetupaframework,wherethefeaturesoftheuserandthetaskareinuentialfactorsinjudginganECA.
IntheircurrentexperimenttheyfoundthattheperceptionoftheECAwasinuencedbythetask,whilethedesignoftheECAshadlittleeect.
PartIVreportsonexperiencewithECAsindierentapplications.
DarvesandOviattfoundthatchildrenbetween7and10werestimulatedverymuchtolearnaboutmarinebiologybythepossibilityofconvers-ingwithananimateddigitalsh.
Theyalsopointedattheimpactoftheauditoryembodimentonchildren'sengagement:anextrovertspeechhadmoreeectthananintrovertspeech.
Mortonetal.
investigatedtheeectofECAsinthreedierenteCommerceapplications,fromdierentPrefacexixpointsofviewsineachcase,suchasoverallacceptanceofanECA,pref-erenceforECAswithspecic'voicepersonae'includinglinguisticstyle,andtheeectoftextoutputredundanttospeechontrust.
Finally,Krennetal.
giveanaccountonexperiencewithcommercialwebappli-cationsincontrasttotheprevious'laboratoryexperiments'.
Inthecaseofthewebapplicationsavatarswereapplied,meanttoberepresentativeoftheusers,andwereusedtogain—commerciallyinterestingandother—informationabouttheuser.
Fromtheiranalysisoflong-termusagedatainthreedierentcountries,onecangetanideaaboutwhattypesofusersliketointeractviaavatars,andinwhatways.
Themany-foldednessofECAevaluationisreectedbythestructureofthebook.
Severalchapterscouldbeassignedundermorethanoneofthemainthemes.
Forinstance,theimportanceoftheusercanbeconsideredasanevaluationmethodologyprinciple(asarguedbyH¨o¨ok,butalsoconcludedbytheexperimentsreportedbyBuisine),aswellasaninspirationfordesignandguidelinesonusingmodalitiesonamicro-level(assuggestedbyNassetal.
).
Individualexperimentsandthesystematicdesignofaseriesofexperimentsinapre-setframeworkalsoaddressmethodologicalaspects,liketheframeworkusedbyCatramboneetal.
ortheanalysisofcommercialmass-applicationsreportedbyKrennetal.
Besidestheconsonances,thereadermaydiscoverdissonancesbetweenthechapters.
Thedisciplinaryandmethodologicalrigoraskedforbytheworksintherstpartmaynotalwaysbemetintheworksreportingonevaluationstudies,or—astheauthorsthemselvesstate—additionaldatawithreallifeapplicationsshouldhavebeencollectedinordertobeabletoperformamoredetailedevaluation.
Withthecollectionofworksdedicatedtooneorotheraspectofevaluation,perse,wehopetogiveanimpetustofuturework.
Bygettingmoreandmoreempiricalresults,gainedbysoundmethods,presentedwithreferencetocommonterminologyandrelatedtondingsreportedbyothersadetailedpictureofthemeritsofECAwillemerge.
Thesomewhatchaoticbulkofunivocalorcontradictorypiecesofconclusionswillbereplacedbydesignguidelineswithaclearscopeofapplicability.
Thereismuchtobedonetillthen,soweaskeverybodyinvolvedinECAresearchandapplicationtocontribute.
January2004ZsofiaRuttkayAmsterdamCatherinePelachaudParis