The comforting presence of relational agents

In this paper we describe an on-going experiment on the calming effects of a relational agent on users following a social bonding interaction. Applications to a range of health care problems are discussed. Keywords Comforting; caring; embodied conversational agent; affective computing; social interface; relational agent; emotion. ACM Classification Keywords H5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: User Interfaces--Evaluation/methodology, Graphical user interfaces, Interaction styles, Natural language, Theory and methods, Voice I/O.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Timothy W. Bickmore, Daniel Schulman
• Keywords: ACM Classification Keywords, CHI 2006, Human Computer Interaction, Relational Agent, Social Bonding Interaction