Journal articles on the topic 'Agenti virtuali'
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Schmidt, Susanne, Oscar Ariza, and Frank Steinicke. "Intelligent Blended Agents: Reality–Virtuality Interaction with Artificially Intelligent Embodied Virtual Humans." Multimodal Technologies and Interaction 4, no. 4 (November 27, 2020): 85. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mti4040085.
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Intelligent virtual agents (VAs) already support us in a variety of everyday tasks such as setting up appointments, monitoring our fitness, and organizing messages. Adding a humanoid body representation to these mostly voice-based VAs has enormous potential to enrich the human–agent communication process but, at the same time, raises expectations regarding the agent’s social, spatial, and intelligent behavior. Embodied VAs may be perceived as less human-like if they, for example, do not return eye contact, or do not show a plausible collision behavior with the physical surroundings. In this article, we introduce a new model that extends human-to-human interaction to interaction with intelligent agents and covers different multi-modal and multi-sensory channels that are required to create believable embodied VAs. Theoretical considerations of the different aspects of human–agent interaction are complemented by implementation guidelines to support the practical development of such agents. In this context, we particularly emphasize one aspect that is distinctive of embodied agents, i.e., interaction with the physical world. Since previous studies indicated negative effects of implausible physical behavior of VAs, we were interested in the initial responses of users when interacting with a VA with virtual–physical capabilities for the first time. We conducted a pilot study to collect subjective feedback regarding two forms of virtual–physical interactions. Both were designed and implemented in preparation of the user study, and represent two different approaches to virtual–physical manipulations: (i) displacement of a robotic object, and (ii) writing on a physical sheet of paper with thermochromic ink. The qualitative results of the study indicate positive effects of agents with virtual–physical capabilities in terms of their perceived realism as well as evoked emotional responses of the users. We conclude with an outlook on possible future developments of different aspects of human–agent interaction in general and the physical simulation in particular.
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Nelson, Kay M., Alex Kogan, Rajendra P. Srivastava, Miklos A. Vasarhelyi, and Hai Lu. "Virtual auditing agents: the EDGAR Agent challenge." Decision Support Systems 28, no. 3 (May 2000): 241–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0167-9236(99)00088-3.
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Voth, D. "Practical agents help out [virtual agent system." IEEE Intelligent Systems 20, no. 2 (March 2005): 4–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/mis.2005.35.
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Tanaka, Hiroki, and Satoshi Nakamura. "The Acceptability of Virtual Characters as Social Skills Trainers: Usability Study." JMIR Human Factors 9, no. 1 (March 29, 2022): e35358. http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/35358.
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Background Social skills training by human trainers is a well-established method to provide appropriate social interaction skills and strengthen social self-efficacy. In our previous work, we attempted to automate social skills training by developing a virtual agent that taught social skills through interaction. Previous research has not investigated the visual design of virtual agents for social skills training. Thus, we investigated the effect of virtual agent visual design on automated social skills training. Objective The 3 main purposes of this research were to investigate the effect of virtual agent appearance on automated social skills training, the relationship between acceptability and other measures (eg, likeability, realism, and familiarity), and the relationship between likeability and individual user characteristics (eg, gender, age, and autistic traits). Methods We prepared images and videos of a virtual agent, and 1218 crowdsourced workers rated the virtual agents through a questionnaire. In designing personalized virtual agents, we investigated the acceptability, likeability, and other impressions of the virtual agents and their relationship to individual characteristics. Results We found that there were differences between the virtual agents in all measures (P<.001). A female anime-type virtual agent was rated as the most likeable. We also confirmed that participants’ gender, age, and autistic traits were related to their ratings. Conclusions We confirmed the effect of virtual agent design on automated social skills training. Our findings are important in designing the appearance of an agent for use in personalized automated social skills training.
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Aylett, R., and D. Ballin. "Guest editorial — Applying agent technology to Virtual Reality: Intelligent virtual agents." Virtual Reality 5, no. 2 (June 2000): 55–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf01424336.
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Bosse, Stefan, and Uwe Engel. "Real-Time Human-In-The-Loop Simulation with Mobile Agents, Chat Bots, and Crowd Sensing for Smart Cities." Sensors 19, no. 20 (October 9, 2019): 4356. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s19204356.
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Modelling and simulation of social interaction and networks are of high interest in multiple disciplines and fields of application ranging from fundamental social sciences to smart city management. Future smart city infrastructures and management are characterised by adaptive and self-organising control using real-world sensor data. In this work, humans are considered as sensors. Virtual worlds, e.g., simulations and games, are commonly closed and rely on artificial social behaviour and synthetic sensor information generated by the simulator program or using data collected off-line by surveys. In contrast, real worlds have a higher diversity. Agent-based modelling relies on parameterised models. The selection of suitable parameter sets is crucial to match real-world behaviour. In this work, a framework combining agent-based simulation with crowd sensing and social data mining using mobile agents is introduced. The crowd sensing via chat bots creates augmented virtuality and reality by augmenting the simulated worlds with real-world interaction and vice versa. The simulated world interacts with real-world environments, humans, machines, and other virtual worlds in real-time. Among the mining of physical sensors (e.g., temperature, motion, position, and light) of mobile devices like smartphones, mobile agents can perform crowd sensing by participating in question–answer dialogues via a chat blog (provided by smartphone Apps or integrated into WEB pages and social media). Additionally, mobile agents can act as virtual sensors (offering data exchanged with other agents) and create a bridge between virtual and real worlds. The ubiquitous usage of digital social media has relevant impact on social interaction, mobility, and opinion-making, which has to be considered. Three different use-cases demonstrate the suitability of augmented agent-based simulation for social network analysis using parameterised behavioural models and mobile agent-based crowd sensing. This paper gives a rigorous overview and introduction of the challenges and methodologies used to study and control large-scale and complex socio-technical systems using agent-based methods.
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Maestro-Prieto, Jose Alberto, Sara Rodríguez, Roberto Casado, and Juan Manuel Corchado. "Agent organisations: from independent agents to virtual organisations and societies of agents." ADCAIJ: Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal 9, no. 4 (December 12, 2020): 55–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.14201/adcaij2020945570.
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Real world applications using agent-based solutions can include many agents that needs communicate and interact each other in order to meet their objectives. In open multi-agent systems, the problems may include the organisation of a large number of agents that may be heterogeneous, of unpredictable provenance and where competitive behaviours or conflicting objectives may occur. An overview of the alternatives for dealing with these problems is presented, highlighting the way they try to solve or mitigate these problems.
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Randhavane, Tanmay, Aniket Bera, and Dinesh Manocha. "F2FCrowds: Planning Agent Movements to Enable Face-to-Face Interactions." Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 26, no. 2 (May 1, 2017): 228–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/pres_a_00294.
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The simulation of human behaviors in virtual environments has many applications. In many of these applications, situations arise in which the user has a face-to-face interaction with a virtual agent. In this work, we present an approach for multi-agent navigation that facilitates a face-to-face interaction between a real user and a virtual agent that is part of a virtual crowd. In order to predict whether the real user is approaching a virtual agent to have a face-to-face interaction or not, we describe a model of approach behavior for virtual agents. We present a novel interaction velocity prediction (IVP) algorithm that is combined with human body motion synthesis constraints and facial actions to improve the behavioral realism of virtual agents. We combine these techniques with full-body virtual crowd simulation and evaluate their benefits by conducting a user study using Oculus HMD in an immersive environment. Results of this user study indicate that the virtual agents using our interaction algorithms appear more responsive and are able to elicit more reaction from the users. Our techniques thus enable face-to-face interactions between a real user and a virtual agent and improve the sense of presence observed by the user.
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Zhang, Hao Lan, Clement H. C. Leung, and Gitesh K. Raikundalia. "Matrix-agent framework: A virtual platform for multi-agents." Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering 15, no. 4 (December 2006): 436–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11518-006-5028-0.
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Pérez Marco, Joaquín, Francisco José Serón Arbeloa, and Eva Cerezo Bagdasari. "Combining cognition and emotion in virtual agents." Kybernetes 46, no. 06 (June 5, 2017): 933–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/k-11-2016-0340.
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Purpose The paper aims to explain the limitations of existing cognitive architectures and affective models, and propose a new cognitive-affective architecture that can be integrated in real intelligent agents to make them more realistic and believable. Design/methodology/approach The paper evaluates the state of the art, and describes the design and implementation of the cognitive-affective architecture in an agent. A brief evaluation of the agent is provided. Findings The paper clearly states that it is possible to use cognitive architectures to help, but there is a lack of architectures that address the problem of combining cognition and emotion in agents in a unified, simplified way. A cognitive-affective architecture is useful to make believable intelligent agents in an easier way. Research limitations/implications The paper does not explore a lot of possible future work that can be done to extend the emotional expressions of the agent, as well as including direct emotional-sensing capabilities in real time. Practical implications The paper argues about the need to include cognitive-affective architectures in modern intelligent agents. The architecture allows to influence and modify the behavior of the agent in real time, to achieve a more realistic and believable interaction with the user. Social implications The paper remarks the importance of a cognitive-affective architecture that makes intelligent agents able to help the users in different tasks and environments. Originality/value The paper describes a new cognitive-affective architecture and its utility for modern intelligent agents. This is proven by including it in a previous agent, which boosts its behavior and emotional expression possibilities and thus improves user experience.
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Yang, Tao, Hong Li Deng, and Yong Feng Diao. "A New Multiple Intelligent Agents Reasoning Model Based on Fluent Calculus." Applied Mechanics and Materials 411-414 (September 2013): 2017–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.411-414.2017.
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In this paper, we discuss the cooperation behaviors of intelligent virtual agents with autonomous and cooperative ability .Based on the theory of fluent calculus, we have designed an agent reasoning model .In this model, intelligent virtual agent could automatically judge the next action in the action queue and constructs the dynamic environment quickly with limited information from sensor. Furthermore, a type of request/server cooperation function has been designed for the cooperation among virtual agents to solve the conflicts and to realize the joint goals. Experiment results obtained demonstrated that intelligent virtual agents could cooperate well by our reasoning model.
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Matsui, Tetsuya, and Atsushi Koike. "Who Is to Blame? The Appearance of Virtual Agents and the Attribution of Perceived Responsibility." Sensors 21, no. 8 (April 9, 2021): 2646. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s21082646.
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Virtual agents have been widely used in human-agent collaboration work. One important problem with human-agent collaboration is the attribution of responsibility as perceived by users. We focused on the relationship between the appearance of a virtual agent and the attribution of perceived responsibility. We conducted an experiment with five agents: an agent without an appearance, a human-like agent, a robot-like agent, a dog-like agent, and an angel-like agent. We measured the perceived agency and experience for each agent, and we conducted an experiment involving a sound-guessing game. In the game, participants listened to a sound and guessed what the sound was with an agent. At the end of the game, the game finished with failure, and the participants did not know who made the mistake, the participant or the agent. After the game, we asked the participants how they perceived the agents’ trustworthiness and to whom they attributed responsibility. As a result, participants attributed less responsibility to themselves when interacting with a robot-like agent than interacting with an angel-like robot. Furthermore, participants perceived the least trustworthiness toward the robot-like agent among all conditions. In addition, the agents’ perceived experience had a correlation with the attribution of perceived responsibility. Furthermore, the agents that made the participants feel their attribution of responsibility to be less were not trusted. These results suggest the relationship between agents’ appearance and perceived attribution of responsibility and new methods for designs in the creation of virtual agents for collaboration work.
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Siegle, Robert F., Jodi L. Puchalski, and Scotty D. Craig. "How an animated pedagogical agent’s emotional expression can impact trust and learning outcomes: Emotive virtual humans have the same results with a smile or scowl." Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 66, no. 1 (September 2022): 470–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1071181322661336.
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The current study examines if the emotional expression of an animated pedagogical agent has an impact on the trust formed between learners and the agent or on learning outcomes. Researchers have shown that the design decisions of pedagogical agents, or virtual humans, can impact user interaction. However, the effects of the virtual human’s emotional expression have yet to be fully understood. Results from this study show that trust is not affected by the emotional expression of the agents. However, evidence suggests that emotive virtual humans reduce attrition effects compared to agents without emotional expressions.
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Bailenson, Jeremy N., Jim Blascovich, Andrew C. Beall, and Jack M. Loomis. "Equilibrium Theory Revisited: Mutual Gaze and Personal Space in Virtual Environments." Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 10, no. 6 (December 2001): 583–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/105474601753272844.
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During the last half of the twentieth century, psychologists and anthropologists have studied proxemics, or spacing behavior, among people in many contexts. As we enter the twenty-first century, immersive virtual environment technology promises new experimental venues in which researchers can study proxemics. Immersive virtual environments provide realistic and compelling experimental settings without sacrificing experimental control. The experiment reported here tested Argyle and Dean's (1965) equilibrium theory's specification of an inverse relationship between mutual gaze, a nonverbal cue signaling intimacy, and interpersonal distance. Participants were immersed in a three-dimensional virtual room in which a virtual human representation (that is, an embodied agent) stood. Under the guise of a memory task, participants walked towards and around the agent. Distance between the participant and agent was tracked automatically via our immersive virtual environment system. All participants maintained more space around agents than they did around similarly sized and shaped but nonhuman-like objects. Female participants maintained more interpersonal distance between themselves and agents who engaged them in eye contact (that is, mutual gaze behavior) than between themselves and agents who did not engage them in eye contact, whereas male participants did not. Implications are discussed for the study of proxemics via immersive virtual environment technology, as well as the design of virtual environments and virtual humans.
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Wang, J. B., and H. F. Wang. "The System of Tensile Test Based on Multi-Agent Virtual Instrument." Key Engineering Materials 693 (May 2016): 1474–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.693.1474.
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This paper presents a system of tensile test based on multi-agent virtual instrument to reduce difficulty and improve intelligence of virtual instrument development. Each software unit of the virtual instrument was designed independent agent. The multi-agent system was generated by the interaction between the agents, and applied successfully to low-carbon steel tensile test experiments. The experimental results show that the response speed and sensitivity of virtual instrument have been improved. Other the development of virtual instrument becomes more simplified, and enhance the ability of the system reconfigurable and intelligent level.
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Soliman, Mohamed, and Christian Guetl. "Simulating Interactive Learning Scenarios with Intelligent Pedagogical Agents in a Virtual World through BDI-Based Agents." International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP) 3, no. 2 (March 20, 2013): 41. http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v3i2.2456.
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Intelligent Pedagogical Agents (IPAs) are designed for pedagogical purposes to support learning in 3D virtual learning environments. Several benefits of IPAs have been found adding to support learning effectiveness. Pedagogical agents can be thought of as a central point of interaction between the learner and the learning environment. And hence, the intelligent behavior and functional richness of pedagogical agents have the potential to reward back into increased engagement and learning effectiveness. However, the realization of those agents remains to be a challenge based on intelligent agents in virtual worlds. This paper reports the challenging reasons and most importantly an approach for simplification. A simulation based on BDI agents is introduced opening the road for several extensions and experimentation before implementation of IPAs in a virtual world can take place. The simulation provides a proof-of concept based on three intelligent agents to represent an IPA, a learner, and learning object implemented in JACK and Jadex intelligent agent platforms. To that end, the paper exhibits the difficulties, resolutions, and decisions made when designing and implementing the learning scenario in both domains of the virtual world and the agent-based simulation while comparing the two agent platforms.</span>
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Anastassakis, George, and Themis Panayiotopoulos. "A Transparent and Decentralized Model of Perception and Action for Intelligent Virtual Agents." International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools 23, no. 04 (August 2014): 1460020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0218213014600203.
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Intelligent virtual agent behaviour is a crucial element of any virtual environment application as it essentially brings the environment to life, introduces believability and realism and enables complex interactions and evolution over time. However, the development of mechanisms for virtual agent perception and action is neither a trivial nor a straight-forward task. In this paper we present a model of perception and action for intelligent virtual agents that meets specific requirements and can as such be systematically implemented, can seamlessly and transparently integrate with knowledge representation and intelligent reasoning mechanisms, is highly independent of virtual world implementation specifics, and enables virtual agent portability and reuse.
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Gomes, Gilzamir Ferreira, Creto Augusto Vidal, Joaquim Bento Cavalcante Neto, and Yuri Lenon Barbosa Nogueira. "An Autonomous Emotional Virtual Character: An Approach with Deep and Goal-Parameterized Reinforcement Learning." Journal on Interactive Systems 11, no. 1 (October 9, 2020): 27–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.5753/jis.2020.751.
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We have developed an autonomous virtual character guided by emotions. The agent is a virtual character who lives in a three-dimensional maze world. We found that emotion drivers can induce the behavior of a trained agent. Our approach is a case of goal parameterized reinforcement learning. Thus, we create conditioning between emotion drivers and a set of goals that determine the behavioral profile of a virtual character. We train agents who can randomly assume these goals while trying to maximize a reward function based on intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. A mapping between motivation and emotion was carried out. So, the agent learned a behavior profile as a training goal. The developed approach was integrated with the Advantage Actor-Critic (A3C) algorithm. Experiments showed that this approach produces behaviors consistent with the objectives given to agents, and has potential for the development of believable virtual characters.
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SÁNCHEZ-ANGUIX, VÍCTOR, SOLEDAD VALERO, and ANA GARCÍA-FORNES. "A GENETIC APPROACH FOR LONG TERM VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION DISTRIBUTION." International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools 20, no. 02 (April 2011): 271–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0218213011000152.
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An agent-based Virtual Organization is a complex entity where dynamic collections of agents agree to share resources in order to accomplish a global goal or offer a complex service. An important problem for the performance of the Virtual Organization is the distribution of the agents across the computational resources. The final distribution should provide a good load balancing for the organization. In this article, a genetic algorithm is applied to calculate a proper distribution across hosts in an agent-based Virtual Organization. Additionally, an abstract multi-agent system architecture which provides infrastructure for Virtual Organization distribution is introduced. The developed genetic solution employs an elitist crossover operator where one of the children inherits the most promising genetic material from the parents with higher probability. In order to validate the genetic proposal, the designed genetic algorithm has been successfully compared to several heuristics in different scenarios.
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Tan, Su-Mae, Tze Wei Liew, Chin Lay Gan, and Wee Ming Wong. "Visual Style of Embodied Virtual Sales Agents." International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction 17, no. 1 (January 2021): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijthi.2021010101.
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The present study explored the effects of naturalism-stylization visual style of embodied virtual agents in an e-commerce website. An experiment was conducted in which participants (n=110) were paired with either the naturalistic or stylized agent that simulated the roles of a virtual sales assistant. It was shown that stylized agent produced significantly higher social perceptions of agent, perceived website social presence, perceived website social support than naturalistic agent. Moreover, stylized agent evoked significantly higher sense of website trust and lower perceived website financial risk from participants as compared to naturalistic agent. Further, the effects of visual style of agent on perceived website social presence was fully mediated by social perceptions of agent whereas the effects of visual style of agent on perceived website social support was partially mediated by perceived website social presence. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in this paper.
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Baylor, Amy L. "Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: role of visual presence and appearance." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 364, no. 1535 (December 12, 2009): 3559–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0148.
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Anthropomorphic virtual agents can serve as powerful technological mediators to impact motivational outcomes such as self-efficacy and attitude change. Such anthropomorphic agents can be designed as simulated social models in the Bandurian sense, providing social influence as virtual ‘role models’. Of particular value is the capacity for designing such agents as optimized social models for a target audience and context. Importantly, the visual presence and appearance of such agents can have a major impact on motivation and affect regardless of the underlying technical sophistication. Empirical results of different instantiations of agent presence and appearance are reviewed for both autonomous virtual agents and avatars that represent a user.
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Türkgeldi, Berkay, Cana Su Özden, and Reyhan Aydoğan. "The Effect of Appearance of Virtual Agents in Human-Agent Negotiation." AI 3, no. 3 (August 16, 2022): 683–701. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ai3030039.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) changed our world in various ways. People start to interact with a variety of intelligent systems frequently. As the interaction between human and AI systems increases day by day, the factors influencing their communication have become more and more important, especially in the field of human-agent negotiation. In this study, our aim is to investigate the effect of knowing your negotiation partner (i.e., opponent) with limited knowledge, particularly the effect of familiarity with the opponent during human-agent negotiation so that we can design more effective negotiation systems. As far as we are aware, this is the first study investigating this research question in human-agent negotiation settings. Accordingly, we present a human-agent negotiation framework and conduct a user experiment in which participants negotiate with an avatar whose appearance and voice are a replica of a celebrity of their choice and with an avatar whose appearance and voice are not familiar. The results of the within-subject design experiment show that human participants tend to be more collaborative when their opponent is a celebrity avatar towards whom they have a positive feeling rather than a non-celebrity avatar.
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D’Avella, Salvatore, Gerardo Camacho-Gonzalez, and Paolo Tripicchio. "On Multi-Agent Cognitive Cooperation: Can virtual agents behave like humans?" Neurocomputing 480 (April 2022): 27–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neucom.2022.01.025.
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Petrović, Vladimir M., and Branko D. Kovačević. "AViLab—Gamified Virtual Educational Tool for Introduction to Agent Theory Fundamentals." Electronics 11, no. 3 (January 24, 2022): 344. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics11030344.
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The development and increased popularity of interactive computer games, metaverses, and virtual worlds in general, has over the years attracted the attention of various researchers. Therefore, it is not surprising that the educational potential of these virtual environments (e.g., virtual laboratories) is of particular interest to a wider scientific community, with numerous successful examples coming from different fields, starting from social sciences, to STEM disciplines. However, when it comes to agent theory, which is a highly important part of the general AI (Artificial Intelligence) research focus, there is a noticeable absence of such educational tools. To be more precise, there is a certain lack of virtual educational systems dedicated primarily to agents. That was the motivation for the development of the AViLab (Agents Virtual Laboratory) gamified system, as a demonstration tool for educational purposes in the related subject of agent theory. The developed system is thoroughly described in this paper. The current version of the AViLab consists of several agents (developed according to the agenda elaborated in the manuscript), aiming to demonstrate certain insights into fundamental agent structures. Although the task imposed to our agents essentially represents a sort of “picking” or “collecting” task, the scenario in the system is rather gamified, in order to be more immersive for potential users, spectators, or possible test subjects. This kind of task was chosen because of its wide applicability in both, gaming scenarios and real-world everyday scenarios. In order to demonstrate how AViLab can be utilized, we conducted an exemplar experiment, described in the paper. Alongside its educational purpose, the AViLab system also has the potential to be used for research purposes in the related subjects of agent theory, AI, and game AI, especially regarding future system extensions (including the introduction of new scenarios, more advanced agents, etc.).
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Goldin, Alexander, and Craig Gotsman. "Geometric Message-Filtering Protocols for Distributed Multiagent Environments." Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 13, no. 3 (June 2004): 279–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/1054746041422352.
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Message filtering is important for distributed multiagent systems, where a large number of dynamic agents participate in the system activity, but a typical agent is interested in only a very small dynamic subset of the other agents. The agent must be constantly informed on the status of this subset, and this is achieved by message passing between relevant agents. Message filtering is required to reduce the communications load on the system, which could be prohibitive if each agent must communicate with all others in order to obtain the information it needs. This paper deals with the case of a multiagent virtual environment, where each agent has a location in 2D space, and is interested in a small subset of the other agents, either those within a fixed range—as treated by previous authors, or the k other agents nearest to it—treated here for the first time. Furthermore, we treat the case of a fully distributed system, where no central server(s) are available to coordinate between the agents. The main challenge is then to design protocols that perform significant message filtering, yet enable each agent to maintain a consistent image of the other agents it is interested in. These protocols are useful in multi-agent games, simulations, and other virtual environments in which the geometric relationships between agents are important. They could also be useful for mobile-commerce and cellphone-based gaming applications.
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Soliman, Mohamed, and Christian Guetl. "Evaluation of Intelligent Agent Frameworks for Human Learning." International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP) 1, no. 3 (October 10, 2011): 45. http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v1i3.1816.
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<p align="left"> </p><p><strong><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pedagogical Agents are intelligent agents supporting learning in virtual learning environments, VLE. The use of the multi-agent society model inhabited with intelligent virtual agents has shown to provide several benefits to learning. This paper reviews intelligent agents for learning and shows their educational value while demonstrating the new learning possibilities supported by them. Towards the objective of efficiently utilizing the agents in a distributed learning platform, the paper provides an evaluation of intelligent agent development frameworks. This evaluation will provide valuable information to those employing and integrating intelligent agents for different types of VLE with a view towards creating new learning scenarios </span></strong></p>
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Etemad-Sajadi, Reza. "The influence of a virtual agent on web-users' desire to visit the company." International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management 31, no. 4 (April 1, 2014): 419–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijqrm-05-2013-0077.
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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to measure the perception and the behavioural intention of web-users who interact with a virtual agent on a web site. The author wants to measure the added value of this technology in terms of providing e-service and measure web-users' desire to have a concrete experience with a firm after experiencing its web site. Design/methodology/approach – The author integrated a virtual agent on a restaurant's web site and conducted an online survey. The author asked respondents to interact with the virtual agent and then fill in the questionnaire. The author used the expanded version of the technology acceptance model (TAM) for measuring the intention of potential customers to accept a new technology and for evaluating the characteristics of the virtual agent. In order to measure the e-service quality, the author adapted items of WebQual to restaurant industry. As the author had several latent variables, the author used partial least squares (PLS), a variance-based structural equation modeling method. Findings – Results show that the utilitarian and hedonic values of the virtual agent increase significantly the desire of potential clients to experiment the restaurant. Hedonic value seems to play a major role. This is a crucial factor for restaurant and hotel industries which can be considered as hedonic industries. Practical implications – This research can help firms to manage relationships with current and potential clients through their web site. The nature of the company plays an important role in the success of the virtual agent's implementation. Even if in the case the author applied the virtual agent to a hedonic industry, a lot of companies in other sectors can benefit from having a virtual agent, especially if the company in question is service-oriented (e.g. bank, airline, etc.). Originality/value – According to the author's knowledge, virtual agents have never been applied to restaurant/hotel industries before. The results of this research significantly advanced the understanding of the impact of virtual agents, especially in the hospitality industry. Moreover, the author applied the TAM to the characteristics of virtual agent, which is very new for the academic world. Finally, the framework the author presented in this research could be used as a basis of measurement of virtual agent effectiveness.
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Artiles Rodríguez, Josué, Mónica Guerra Santana, Victoria Aguiar Perera, and Josefa Rodríguez Pulido. "Agente conversacional virtual: la inteligencia artificial para el aprendizaje autónomo." Pixel-Bit, Revista de Medios y Educación, no. 62 (2021): 107–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/pixelbit.86171.
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El presente artículo de investigación profundiza sobre las posibilidades de los agentes virtuales conversacionales como herramienta para tutorizar trabajos del alumnado universitario. Se utilizó una metodología cuantitativa con diseño descriptivo, correlacional y diferencial, para evaluar su usabilidad del agente conversacional en una muestra de 303 estudiantes universitarios. Para ello, se diseñó y evaluó un agente conversacional virtual para apoyar las tutorías de Trabajos de Fin de Grado con la Escala SUS (System Usability Scale). Los resultados indican que la escala posee una satisfactoria calidad métrica y una buena bondad del modelo, aspectos que se constatan en la estructura empírica y en la consistencia interna favorables del cuestionario. Los datos también muestran que existen diferencias significativas (IC 99,95%) en las variables género, grado, nivel de conocimiento y el grado de uso de chatbots. Se completó con el registro de uso real del agente, en un plazo de seis meses, por 589 estudiantes de tres titulaciones diferentes, contestando a 3025 preguntas en seis meses. En conclusión, los resultados permiten establecer criterios explicativos sobre el uso de chatbots. Es necesario seguir profundizando en este tipo de herramientas para el seguimiento y evaluación del alumnado.
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RICCI, ALESSANDRO, ANDREA OMICINI, and ENRICO DENTI. "VIRTUAL ENTERPRISES AND WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT AS AGENT COORDINATION ISSUES." International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems 11, no. 03n04 (September 2002): 355–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0218843002000637.
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Agents and multiagent systems (MAS) have already proved suitable for dealing with the complexity of today B2B application scenarios. Application environments such as virtual enterprises (VE) and inter-organizational workflow management systems (WfMS) specially call for the integration of heterogeneous resources, services, and processes. In this article, we first recognize VE and workflow management as agent coordination problems, then discuss how objective coordination — that is, coordination from outside agents — can help to model VE and WfMS. Finally, we show the impact of an agent coordination infrastructure like [Formula: see text] on the engineering of highly dynamic VE and WfMS, by discussing a simple case study.
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Fougères, Alain-Jérôme, and Egon Ostrosi. "Intelligent agents for feature modelling in computer aided design." Journal of Computational Design and Engineering 5, no. 1 (November 6, 2017): 19–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcde.2017.11.001.
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Abstract CAD modelling can be referred to as the process of generating an integrated multiple view model as a representation of multiple views of engineering design. In many situations, a change in the model of one view may conflict with the models of other views. In such situations, the model of some views needs to be adapted in order to make all models consistent. Thus, CAD models should be capable of adapting themselves to new situations. Recently, agent based technologies have been considered in order to increase both knowledge level and intelligence of real and virtual objects. The contribution of this paper consists in introducing the intelligent agents in intelligent CAD modelling. The proposed agents are elementary geometrical and topological objects. They incorporate the functions of observation, decision and action, and possess their own knowledge. Agents have the capacity of communication and inference based on the feature grammars. They are modelled as bio-dynamic objects that enjoy the properties of fusion, division and multiplication. Being aware of the context, the proposed agents interact to form potential regional transitory communities, called regions. Being aware of their belonging in a region, agents interact by generating virtual links (virtual extensions). These virtual links produce: (a) fusion of agents, (b) division of agents and c) multiplication of agents. The emerged agents interact with the other agents in a region to recognize each other and to form specific sub-communities, called intelligent features. From a CAD software development point of view, this paper advocates the idea of a new phase of CAD system development based on the agent-oriented programming (AOP) paradigm. Highlights This paper proposes the agent paradigm for intelligent CAD modelling. Second section presents the state of art. In the third section, using the linguistic hypothesis of product design, a feature modelling formalism is presented. Fourth section presents a formal model for agent modelling. In the fifth section, agents for feature generation and modelling are formalised and modelled. The sixth section presents the application of the method. Finally, in the last section, the conclusion and future developments are proposed.
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Munawar, Saima, Saba Khalil Toor, Muhammad Aslam, and Esma Aimeur. "PACA-ITS: A Multi-Agent System for Intelligent Virtual Laboratory Courses." Applied Sciences 9, no. 23 (November 25, 2019): 5084. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app9235084.
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This paper describes an intensive design leading to the implementation of an intelligent lab companion (ILC) agent for an intelligent virtual laboratory (IVL) platform. An IVL enables virtual labs (VL) to be used as online research laboratories, thereby facilitating and improving the analytical skills of students using agent technology. A multi-agent system enhances the capability of the learning system and solves students’ problems automatically. To ensure an exhaustive Agent Unified Modeling Language (AUML) design, identification of the agents’ types and responsibilities on well-organized AUML strategies is carried out. This work also traces the design challenge of IVL modeling and the ILC agent functionality of six basic agents: the practical coaching agent (PCA), practical dispatcher agent (PDA), practical interaction and coordination agent (PICA), practical expert agent (PEA), practical knowledge management agent (PKMA), and practical inspection agent (PIA). Furthermore, this modeling technique is compatible with ontology mapping based on an enabling technology using the Java Agent Development Framework (JADE), Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT), and Protégé platform integration. The potential Java Expert System Shell (Jess) programming implements the cognitive model algorithm criteria that are applied to measure progress through the CTAT for C++ programming concept task on IVL and successfully deployed on the TutorShop web server for evaluation. The results are estimated through the learning curve to assess the preceding knowledge, error rate, and performance profiler to engage cognitive Jess agent efficiency as well as practicable and active decisions to improve student learning.
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Johnson, W. Lewis, Jeff Rickel, Randy Stiles, and Allen Munro. "Integrating Pedagogical Agents into Virtual Environments." Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 7, no. 6 (December 1998): 523–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/105474698565929.
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In order for a virtual environment to be effective as a training tool, it is not enough to concentrate on the fidelity of the renderings and the accuracy of the simulated behaviors. The environment should help trainees develop an understanding of the task and should provide guidance and assistance as needed. This paper describes a system for developing virtual environments in which pedagogical capabilities are incorporated into autonomous agents that interact with trainees and simulations of objects in the environment. These pedagogical agents can monitor trainee progress and provide guidance and assistance. This paper describes the architectural features of the environment and of the agents that accomplish the instructional objectives within the virtual environment. It also discusses how agent-based instruction is combined with other methods of delivering instruction.
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Grimaldo, Francisco, Miguel Lozano, Fernando Barber, and Guillermo Vigueras. "Simulating socially intelligent agents in semantic virtual environments." Knowledge Engineering Review 23, no. 4 (December 2008): 369–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s026988890800009x.
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AbstractThe simulation of synthetic humans inhabiting virtual environments is a current research topic with a great number of behavioral problems to be tackled. Semantical virtual environments (SVEs) have recently been proposed not only to ease world modeling but also to enhance the agent–object and agent–agent interaction. Thus, we propose the use of ontologies to define the world’s knowledge base and to introduce semantic levels of detail that help the sensorization of complex scenes—containing lots of interactive objects. The object taxonomy also helps to create general and reusable operativity for autonomous characters—for example, liquids can be poured from containers such as bottles. On the other hand, we use the ontology to define social relations among agents within an artificial society. These relations must be taken into account in order to display socially acceptable decisions. Therefore, we have implemented a market-based social model that reaches coordination and sociability by means of task exchanges. This paper presents a multi-agent framework oriented to simulate socially intelligent characters in SVEs. The framework has been successfully tested in three-dimensional (3D) dynamic scenarios while simulating a virtual university bar, where groups of waiters and customers interact with both the objects in the scene and the other virtual agents, finally displaying complex social behaviors.
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Morales-Rodríguez, María Lucila, Clara Alicia Vela-Ortega, Laura Patricia Vélez-Chong, Gonzalo Cruz-Ceballos, Ana Guadalupe Vélez-Chong, and Denisse Alvarado-Castillo. "Application of the GAMeNT Framework for the Development of a Serious Game Prototype aimed at Older Adults." Tecnología Educativa Revista CONAIC 8, no. 2 (December 14, 2021): 63–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.32671/terc.v8i2.211.
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One of the biggest problems that will be faced in the world in the coming years is the demand for care in the field of physical and mental health in older people, serious games are presented as a tool to support occupational therapies for preservation of health and activities of daily living (ADL) in this group. This work breaks down the process of designing and implementing a serious game using the GAMeNT framework, which was developed with the objective of producing serious games that integrate socio-emotional virtual agents in an interactive narration. The software prototype that was implemented to improve shoulder tendons and exercising short term memory considers an aesthetic and dynamic design centered on the user and the integration of a virtual agent that guides the game. It is highlighted that the use of the GAMeNT Framework facilitates the implementation of serious games.
Uno de los mayores problemas que se enfrentarán en el mundo en los próximos años es la demanda de cuidados en el campo de la salud física y mental en las personas mayores, los juegos serios se presentan como una herramienta de apoyo a las terapias ocupacionales para la preservación de la salud y las actividades. de la vida diaria (AVD) en este grupo. Este trabajo desglosa el proceso de diseño e implementación de un juego serio utilizando el framework GAMeNT, el cual fue desarrollado con el objetivo de producir juegos serios que integren agentes virtuales socioemocionales en una narración interactiva. El prototipo de software que se implementó para mejorar los tendones del hombro y ejercitar la memoria a corto plazo considera un diseño estético y dinámico centrado en el usuario y la integración de un agente virtual que guía el juego. Se destaca que el uso del Framework GAMeNT facilita la implementación de juegos serios.
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Urrea, Claudio, Felipe Garrido, and John Kern. "Design and Implementation of Intelligent Agent Training Systems for Virtual Vehicles." Sensors 21, no. 2 (January 12, 2021): 492. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s21020492.
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This paper presents the results of the design, simulation, and implementation of a virtual vehicle. Such a process employs the Unity videogame platform and its Machine Learning-Agents library. The virtual vehicle is implemented in Unity considering mechanisms that represent accurately the dynamics of a real automobile, such as motor torque curve, suspension system, differential, and anti-roll bar, among others. Intelligent agents are designed and implemented to drive the virtual automobile, and they are trained using imitation or reinforcement. In the former method, learning by imitation, a human expert interacts with an intelligent agent through a control interface that simulates a real vehicle; in this way, the human expert receives motion signals and has stereoscopic vision, among other capabilities. In learning by reinforcement, a reward function that stimulates the intelligent agent to exert a soft control over the virtual automobile is designed. In the training stage, the intelligent agents are introduced into a scenario that simulates a four-lane highway. In the test stage, instead, they are located in unknown roads created based on random spline curves. Finally, graphs of the telemetric variables are presented, which are obtained from the automobile dynamics when the vehicle is controlled by the intelligent agents and their human counterpart, both in the training and the test track.
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Bai, Xue, Hong Wei Kang, Qing Yi Chen, Xing Ping Sun, Yong Shen, and Hua Zhou. "Research of the Emergence of Virtual Organizations Based on Cloud Computing Environment." Applied Mechanics and Materials 644-650 (September 2014): 2290–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.644-650.2290.
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In the cloud computing environment, resources of services encapsulation extend from initial computing resources to all other encapsulated social resources, such as manufacturing resources, financial resources, etc. Increasingly, services are reflecting the agent characteristics. This paper proposes that the cloud computing environment is a complex adaptive system of which the service is the service agent. With the emergence of its core, the model of interactions between service agents has been established by synthesizing theories and technologies of various disciplines like System Science, Economics, Management and Computer Science. By using the CAS theory as the technical route of cloud computing environment and its service agents, we can draw the conclusion that virtual organizations will spring up because of the combination of service agents.
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Matsui, Tetsuya, and Yukio-Pegio Gunji. "Experimental Disproof of a Manga Character Construction Model." Symmetry 13, no. 5 (May 10, 2021): 838. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sym13050838.
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In prior works, the impression of elements of virtual agents/manga character and the overall impression of virtual agents/manga character were considered completely symmetric. In this work, we conducted a preliminary experiment to develop a system that creates designs of virtual agents depending on a text. In this experiment, the participants read the text and chose the image of an agent and social group that resembled their mental image. We introduced the lattice derived by the rough set induction method to suggest the model to analyze the mental image. In this model, we constructed the lattice from two interpretations to evaluate the complexity of the mental image generation process. As a result, the lattices derived by social groups and appearance were non-Boolean; however, those derived by two kinds of design features were not non-Boolean. This result shows that the mental appearance and social images cannot be combined voluntarily. This result showed that it is not symmetric between each element of virtual agents/manga character and overall virtual agents/manga character.
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Li, Jing, and Yue Jin Zhou. "Simulation of Conflicts Resolution in Virtual Teams." Advanced Materials Research 187 (February 2011): 39–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.187.39.
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The purpose of the paper is to study the conflict resolution in virtual teams. Multi-agent technology is used to simulate the virtual team. In the team, agents adapt the Q-learning algorithm to adjust their behaviors. Through the interaction of virtual members, part of conflicts can be resolved by team members. The experiments are manipulated to study the process of the interaction in the team. The results of experiments show a new rule for conflict resolution emerged from the dynamic interactions of agents. The conclusions show significance on the management of team in real world.
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Samperi, Katrina. "Large-Scale Mapping and Navigation in VirtualWorlds: Thesis Summary." Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence 26, no. 1 (September 20, 2021): 2406–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v26i1.8188.
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Virtual worlds present a challenge for intelligent mobile agents. They are required to generate maps of very large scale, dynamic and unstructured environments in a short amount of time. We investigate how to represent maps of ever growing virtual environments, how the agent can build, update and use these maps to navigate between points in the environment. We look at trails, the movement of other people and agents in the environment as a new information source. We can use trails to improve the generation of probabilistic roadmaps in these environments and enable the agent to segment space intelligently. Our future plans are to extend this to look at dynamic environments, where the agent will have to recognise change and update the map and how this will affect the map representation.
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Manouselis, Nikos, and Andreas M. Maras. "Multi-attribute Services Brokering in Agent-based Virtual Private Networks." Computing Letters 1, no. 3 (March 6, 2005): 137–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574040054861230.
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This paper presents the development of an agent-based Virtual Private Network (VPN) system that supports multimedia service brokering. The VPN agents employ multi-attribute preference models in order to represent the end-user preferences, and a multi-criteria decision making model to evaluate available services from network providers. A prototype multi-agent system demonstrating the proposed approach has also been implemented.
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Zhou, Michelle X., Gloria Mark, Jingyi Li, and Huahai Yang. "Trusting Virtual Agents." ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems 9, no. 2-3 (April 25, 2019): 1–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3232077.
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Chattaraman, Veena, Wi-Suk Kwon, Juan E. Gilbert, and Yishuang Li. "Virtual shopping agents." Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing 8, no. 2 (June 3, 2014): 144–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jrim-08-2013-0054.
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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the visual presence of a virtual agent on a retail Web site reveals positive outcomes for older users with respect to enhancing perceived interactivity, social support, trust and patronage intentions and alleviating user anxiety. Design/methodology/approach – A between-subjects laboratory experiment was conducted with 50 older users, which included an interaction experience of 30 minutes followed by a paper-based questionnaire. The visual presence of the agent was manipulated in a mock retail Web site through the presence or absence of a virtual agent image, while maintaining the same agent functionality. Findings – The contrasts of senior users’ shopping experiences between two agent-mediated Web sites (with or without agent image) support the direct “persona” effects of a virtual agent’s visual presence on enhancing perceived interactivity, social support, trust and patronage intentions in the retail Web site, while alleviating user anxiety. Further, anxiety alleviation is fully explained by increased perceptions of interactivity. Perceived social support fully mediates trust in the benevolence of the online retailer. Trust ability emerges as a salient factor mediating the relationship between agent persona and patronage intentions. Originality/value – This work is the first to identify the value of human visual embodiment for older users’ online shopping experiences, which has implications for other low-experience/expertise users of a medium.
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Straßmann, Carolin, Nicole C. Krämer, Hendrik Buschmeier, and Stefan Kopp. "Age-Related Differences in the Evaluation of a Virtual Health Agent’s Appearance and Embodiment in a Health-Related Interaction: Experimental Lab Study." Journal of Medical Internet Research 22, no. 4 (April 23, 2020): e13726. http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/13726.
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Background Assistive technologies have become more important owing to the aging population, especially when they foster healthy behaviors. Because of their natural interface, virtual agents are promising assistants for people in need of support. To engage people during an interaction with these technologies, such assistants need to match the users´ needs and preferences, especially with regard to social outcomes. Objective Prior research has already determined the importance of an agent’s appearance in a human-agent interaction. As seniors can particularly benefit from the use of virtual agents to maintain their autonomy, it is important to investigate their special needs. However, there are almost no studies focusing on age-related differences with regard to appearance effects. Methods A 2×4 between-subjects design was used to investigate the age-related differences of appearance effects in a human-agent interaction. In this study, 46 seniors and 84 students interacted in a health scenario with a virtual agent, whose appearance varied (cartoon-stylized humanoid agent, cartoon-stylized machine-like agent, more realistic humanoid agent, and nonembodied agent [voice only]). After the interaction, participants reported on the evaluation of the agent, usage intention, perceived presence of the agent, bonding toward the agent, and overall evaluation of the interaction. Results The findings suggested that seniors evaluated the agent more positively (liked the agent more and evaluated it as more realistic, attractive, and sociable) and showed more bonding toward the agent regardless of the appearance than did students. In addition, interaction effects were found. Seniors reported the highest usage intention for the cartoon-stylized humanoid agent, whereas students reported the lowest usage intention for this agent. The same pattern was found for participant bonding with the agent. Seniors showed more bonding when interacting with the cartoon-stylized humanoid agent or voice only agent, whereas students showed the least bonding when interacting with the cartoon-stylized humanoid agent. Conclusions In health-related interactions, target group–related differences exist with regard to a virtual assistant’s appearance. When elderly individuals are the target group, a humanoid virtual assistant might trigger specific social responses and be evaluated more positively at least in short-term interactions.
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Langley, Pat, Nishant Trivedi, and Matt Banister. "A Command Language for Taskable Virtual Agents." Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment 6, no. 1 (October 10, 2010): 144–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1609/aiide.v6i1.12420.
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In this paper, we report progress on making synthetic characters more taskable. In particular, we present an English-like command language that lets one specify complex behaviors an agent should carry out in a virtual environment. We also report compilers that translate English commands into a formal notation and formal statements into procedures for Icarus, an agent architecture that supports reactive execution. To demonstrate the benefits of such taskability, we have integrated Icarus with Twig, which provides a simulated physical environment with humanoid agents. We use the command language to specify three complex activities, including responding to an object contingently, collecting and storing a set of objects, and negotiating with another agent in order to purchase an item. We also discuss related work on controlling synthetic characters, along with paths for additional research on taskability.
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Barfield, Woodrow. "Issues of Law for Software Agents within Virtual Environments." Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 14, no. 6 (December 2005): 741–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/105474605775196607.
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A software agent is a computer program that operates within computing environments. The owners of software agents may instruct their agents to roam the networks, access desired information by exchanging data with other agents or people, and handle business and personal transactions. As the interactions between software agents and humans become more frequent, it is relevant to ask whether there are any issues of law that may guide their interactions and conduct. For example, as the agents become more intelligent and autonomous, who will be responsible for the mistakes that software agents make? Will software agents be allowed to contract with humans and with each other, and if so will such contracts be enforceable? And, will software agents have standing to sue and be sued? While there are a host of legal issues associated with software agents operating within virtual environments, the main issue addressed in this paper is whether software agents should be granted the legal rights associated with personhood. After discussing basic characteristics of software agents, and personhood in general, the paper concludes by outlining three possible scenarios that could represent the legal status of software agents in the future; these include the current status quo of property, the status of an indentured servant, and the status and associated rights of legal personhood.
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Chattaraman, Veena, Wi‐Suk Kwon, Juan E. Gilbert, and Soo In Shim. "Virtual agents in e‐commerce: representational characteristics for seniors." Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing 5, no. 4 (October 18, 2011): 276–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17505931111191492.
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is two‐fold: to investigate virtual agent representational characteristics (modality, interaction style, animation, realism, embodiment, and gender) employed by agent software providers in developing commercial and non‐commercial web sites; and to examine older consumers' preferences in these agent characteristics.Design/methodology/approachStudy 1 involves a content analysis of 64 sample web sites of agent providers, and study 2 consists of four focus group interviews conducted with 25 older consumers in the age group of 65‐82 years.FindingsFindings from both studies reveal some important disconnects between agent characteristics (modality, realism, animation, and gender) offered by virtual agent software providers and those preferred by older consumers. As a result, important recommendations are provided for the development of virtual agents for e‐commerce applications to enhance accessibility for older users.Originality/valueNo previous studies have investigated which agent characteristics enhance web accessibility and are most preferred by older users in the context of e‐commerce applications.
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Kadaba, Rajiv, Suratna Budalakoti, David DeAngelis, and K. Suzanne Barber. "Modeling Virtual Footprints." International Journal of Agent Technologies and Systems 3, no. 2 (April 2011): 1–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jats.2011040101.
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Entities interacting on the web establish their identity by creating virtual personas. These entities, or agents, can be human users or software-based. This research models identity using the Entity-Persona Model, a semantically annotated social network inferred from the persistent traces of interaction between personas on the web. A Persona Mapping Algorithm is proposed which compares the local views of personas in their social network referred to as their Virtual Signatures, for structural and semantic similarity. The semantics of the Entity-Persona Model are modeled by a vector space model of the text associated with the personas in the network, which allows comparison of their Virtual Signatures. This enables all the publicly accessible personas of an entity to be identified on the scale of the web. This research enables an agent to identify a single entity using multiple personas on different networks, provided that multiple personas exhibit characteristic behavior. The agent is able to increase the trustworthiness of on-line interactions by establishing the identity of entities operating under multiple personas. Consequently, reputation measures based on on-line interactions with multiple personas can be aggregated and resolved to the true singular identity.
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Momen, Ali, Marc M. Sebrechts, and M. Mowafak Allaham. "Virtual Agents as a Support for Feedback-Based Learning." Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 60, no. 1 (September 2016): 1780–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1541931213601407.
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This study explored whether a virtual agent in a feedback task would enhance social presence and motivation, as well as facilitate learning on a Chinese symbol retention task. Learning occurred with four different computer-based feedback sources: a computer-generated “Agent”, a “Human”, an “Inanimate” image and a non-image “Verbal” condition. Measures of presence, motivation, and learning were generally related, albeit with limited support for an Agent compared to other sources of feedback. Although performance with the Agent was comparable to the Human on several measures, it did not consistently differ from other conditions. Agent and Human conditions did elicit highest social presence, but this was not uniquely related to learning outcomes. Surprisingly, the Verbal condition resulted in optimal learning. Results suggest that the utility of virtual agents is dependent on task relevance and on subjects’ inference about the agent’s capacity; agent characteristics can be distracting as well as facilitating.
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ANASTASSAKIS, G., and T. PANAYIOTOPOULOS. "A SYSTEM FOR LOGIC-BASED INTELLIGENT VIRTUAL AGENTS." International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools 13, no. 03 (September 2004): 593–621. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0218213004001703.
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Combination of logic-based artificial intelligence with virtual reality in intelligent agent systems is an approach not extensively sought after to date. It is our belief that significant gain is to be expected if the technical challenges involved are overcome. In this paper, we describe the mVlTAL intelligent agent system, which is our latest effort towards this direction. The system is a contemporary intelligent agent system with applications in numerous areas, including intelligent virtual environments and formal artificial intelligence research. The system focuses largely on logic-based approaches, which are present in almost every aspect of it, including modeling, knowledge representation, definition of agent behaviors and inter-agent communication. In addition, virtual manifestation of the world and agents is also an inherent characteristic of the system. The system, even if still in a development and evaluation stage, has already been employed in experimental and educational applications, demonstrating the potential benefits of such an approach.
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Bosse, Stefan, and Uwe Engel. "Augmented Virtual Reality: Combining Crowd Sensing and Social Data Mining with Large-Scale Simulation Using Mobile Agents for Future Smart Cities." Proceedings 4, no. 1 (November 14, 2018): 49. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ecsa-5-05762.
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Augmented reality is well known for extending the real world by adding computer-generated perceptual information and overlaid sensory information. In contrast, simulation worlds are commonly closed and rely on artificial sensory information generated by the simulator program or using data collected off-line. In this work, a new simulation paradigm is introduced, providing augmented virtuality by integrating crowd sensing and social data mining in simulation worlds by using mobile agents. The simulation world interacts with real world environments, humans, machines, and other virtual worlds in real-time. Mobile agents are closely related to bots that can interact with humans via chat blogs. Among the mining of physical sensors (temperature, motion, position, light, …), mobile agents can perform Crowd Sensing by participating in question–answer dialogs via a chat blog provided by a WEB App that can be used by the masses. Additionally, mobile agents can act as virtual sensors (offering data exchanged with other agents). Virtual sensors are sensor aggregators performing sensor fusion in a spatially region.