TY - JOUR
T1 - More than just a pretty face
T2 - Conversational protocols and the affordances of embodiment
AU - Cassell, J.
AU - Bickmore, T.
AU - Campbell, L.
AU - Yan, H.
N1 - Funding Information: Thanks to the other members of the REA team — in particular David Mellis and Nina Yu — and to Jennifer Smith and Matthew Stone for their contribution to the work and comments on this paper. Thanks to Candy Sidner and several anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that improved the article. Research leading to the preparation of this article was supported by the National Science Foundation (award IIS-9618939), AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, and other generous sponsors of the MIT Media Lab.
PY - 2001/3
Y1 - 2001/3
N2 - Prior research into embodied interface agents has found that users like them and find them engaging. However, results on the effectiveness of these interfaces for task completion have been mixed. In this paper, we argue that embodiment can serve an even stronger function if system designers use actual human conversational protocols in the design of the interface. Communicative behaviors such as salutations and farewells, conversational turn-taking with interruptions, and describing objects using hand gestures are examples of protocols that all native speakers of a language already know how to perform and can thus be leveraged in an intelligent interface. We discuss how these protocols are integrated into Rea, an embodied, multi-modal interface agent who acts as a real-estate salesperson, and we show why embodiment is required for their successful implementation.
AB - Prior research into embodied interface agents has found that users like them and find them engaging. However, results on the effectiveness of these interfaces for task completion have been mixed. In this paper, we argue that embodiment can serve an even stronger function if system designers use actual human conversational protocols in the design of the interface. Communicative behaviors such as salutations and farewells, conversational turn-taking with interruptions, and describing objects using hand gestures are examples of protocols that all native speakers of a language already know how to perform and can thus be leveraged in an intelligent interface. We discuss how these protocols are integrated into Rea, an embodied, multi-modal interface agent who acts as a real-estate salesperson, and we show why embodiment is required for their successful implementation.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0035277175
U2 - 10.1016/S0950-7051(00)00102-7
DO - 10.1016/S0950-7051(00)00102-7
M3 - Article
SN - 0950-7051
VL - 14
SP - 55
EP - 64
JO - Knowledge-Based Systems
JF - Knowledge-Based Systems
IS - 1-2
ER -
