CHS: Small: Advanced Design Principles for Computer Simulated Agents

该项目将研究人类与模拟代理人在人类期望共情沟通的情况下的互动，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）互动。 目前在网上提供的几乎所有心理社会干预措施都仅通过文本提供。 研究表明，许多用户将失去兴趣并退出，尽管完成对实现预期目标至关重要。 人机交互文献表明，与模拟代理人进行交互可以增加用户的参与度，但用户在与他们交互时会期望社交能力。 这个项目将回答一系列的研究问题，设计具有一定同理心智能的模拟角色，以创造一种新的CBIs交付模式。 与健康相关的特定应用领域将促进新技术和设计原则的开发和评估，这些技术和设计原则将具有更广泛的适用性，无论何时人们通过模拟代理与基于计算机的系统交互。这项研究将提高计算机科学家创建称职的模拟代理的能力，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，为特定用户定制他们的交互，以在用户参与和实现目标方面产生最大的积极影响。 开发的移情和社交能力模型将使模拟角色能够在真实的时间内适应用户在单个交互会话中的短暂情绪。 长期的情感状态将通过与同一个人的随访会话在长期互动中建模。 因此，人类和人工智能之间的关系发展是一个动态的过程，预计这项研究将发现在短期互动中可能看不到的新原则。该项目将提供：（1）根据用户的人口统计信息和波动的个人特征，构建动态的用户模型，设计定制的交互方案：（2）将动机访谈技术与基于本体的对话系统相结合，构建移情言语交际模型;（3）通过调整角色的面部表情来整合语言和非语言交流线索的计算模型，语音调制，以及在会话的上下文中对其口头话语的身势语。 此外，该研究将涉及有关人类群体之间沟通方式多样性的科学问题，这一点得益于该项目设在该地区为少数群体服务的主要研究型大学。 事实上，这项研究将使学生参与集成多种技术的系统的开发，这将为他们提供出色的教育体验，获得对未来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.