AVARI: animated virtual agent retrieving information

Avari is a virtual receptionist for the Computer Science department at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her components include background subtraction to detect a person’s presence, speech recognition, audio and visual devices to communicate with passersby. Deployed in a public setting, we investigate the reactions and interactions of passersby with Avari. We describe the design and architecture of the virtual human and discuss the effectiveness of a publicly deployed virtual human. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.1: Multimedia Information Systems: Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities; H.5.2 User Interfaces: Natural language, Voice I/O, User-centered design General Terms Design, Human Factors Keywords virtual humans, human-computer interaction, human-centered computing

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: ACMSE
• Authors: Lauren Cairco, Dale-Marie Wilson, Vicky Fowler, Morris LeBlanc
• Keywords: ACMSE 2009, Keywords Virtual Humans, Theoretical Computer Science, Virtual Humans, Virtual Receptionist