CHS: Small: Advanced Design Principles for Computer Simulated Agents

这个项目将调查人类在期望移情交流的情况下与模拟代理人的互动，例如医疗保健。在这样的领域中，随着教育过程的发展，人与基于计算机的干预(CBI)进行交互。目前网络上几乎所有可用的心理社会干预都是通过文本传递的。研究表明，许多用户将失去兴趣并退出，尽管完成任务对实现预期目标至关重要。人机交互文献表明，与模拟代理交互可以增加用户的参与度，但用户在与他们交互时会期待社交能力。这个项目将回答一系列具有共情智能的模拟人物设计的研究问题，为CBIS的交付创造一种新的模式。与健康有关的具体应用领域将促进新技术和设计原则的开发和评估，这些新技术和设计原则将具有更广泛的适用性，可能每当人们通过模拟代理与基于计算机的系统交互时。这项研究将提高计算机科学家创造合格的模拟代理的能力，这些代理可以使他们的语言和非语言行为适应用户的情感状态，并随着时间的推移，根据特定的用户定制他们的交互，以在用户的参与度和实现他们的目标方面产生最大的积极影响。开发的同理心和社交能力模型将使模拟角色能够在单一互动会话中实时适应用户短暂的情感。长期情感状态将通过与同一个人的后续会议在长期互动中建模。因此，人类和人工智能之间的融洽关系的发展是一个动态的过程，随着时间的推移，这项研究有望发现可能不会完全在短期互动中看到的新原则。该项目将提供：(1)通过构建具有用户人口统计信息和波动的个人特征的动态用户模型来设计定制交互的方案；(2)通过将动机访谈技术与基于本体的对话系统相结合而构建的移情言语交流模型；(3)通过调整角色的面部表情、声音调制和手势来整合言语和非言语交流线索的计算模型，以适应会话上下文中的言语话语。此外，由于该项目设在该地区主要的为少数群体服务的研究型大学，这项研究将涉及有关人类群体交流方式多样性的科学问题。事实上，这项研究将让学生参与到集成多种技术的系统的开发中，这将给他们带来极好的教育体验，获得对未来一系列职业生涯有价值的能力。

This project will investigate human interaction with simulated agents in situations where humans expect empathic communication, such as healthcare. In domains such as this, the person interacts with computer-based interventions (CBI) as an education process evolves. Almost all psychosocial interventions currently available on the web are delivered merely via text. Research indicates that many users will lose interest and drop out, although completion is critical to achieving desired goals. Human-computer interaction literature suggests that interacting with simulated agents can increase the user's engagement, but that the user will expect social competence when interacting with them. This project will answer a set of research questions for the design of simulated characters with some empathic intelligence, to create a new modality for the delivery of CBIs. The specific health-related application area will facilitate development and evaluation of new techniques and design principles, that will have much wider applicability, potentially whenever people interact with computer-based systems through simulated agents. This research will advance the ability of computer scientists to create competent simulated agents that can adapt their verbal and non-verbal behavior to the user's affective states, and over time tailor their interaction to the specific user to produce the maximum positive impact in terms of users' engagement and achievement of their goals. The model of empathy and social competence developed will enable simulated characters to adapt in real time to a user's short-lived emotions over a single interactive session. Longer-term affective states will be modeled over long-term interaction via follow-up sessions with the same individual. Thus, development of rapport between a human and an artificial intelligence is a dynamic process over time, and the research is expected to discover new principles that might not be seen in exclusively short-term interactions. The project will provide: (1) a scheme to design tailored interaction by constructing a dynamic user-model with user's demographic information and fluctuating personal characteristics; (2) a model of empathic verbal communication built by combining motivational interviewing techniques with an ontology-based dialog system; (3) a computational model for the integration of verbal and non-verbal communication cues by adapting the character's facial expressions, vocal modulation, and kinesics to its verbal utterances in the context of the session. In addition, the research will engage scientific questions about diversity in communication style across human groups, facilitated by the fact that the project is housed at the region's principal minority-serving research university. The fact that the research will involve students in the development of systems that integrate multiple technologies will give them an excellent educational experience, gaining competence that will be valuable for a range of future careers.