Konferensartikel

Starting a Conversation with Strangers in Virtual Reykjavik: Explicit Announcement of Presence

Stefán Ólafsson
CADIA, Reykjavik University, Iceland

Branislav Bédi
University of Iceland, Iceland

Hafdïs Erla Erla Helgdóttir
CADIA, Reykjavik University, Iceland

Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir
University of Iceland, Iceland

Hannes Högni Vilhjálmsson
CADIA, Reykjavik University, Iceland

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Ingår i: Proceedings from the 3rd European Symposium on Multimodal Communication, Dublin, September 17-18, 2015

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 105:11, s. 62-68

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Publicerad: 2016-09-16

ISBN: 978-91-7685-679-6

ISSN: 1650-3686 (tryckt), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

Virtual Reykjavik is an Icelandic language and culture training application for foreigners learning Icelandic. In this video game-like environment, the user is asked to solve given tasks in the game and in order to complete them he/she must interact with the characters, e.g. by conversing with them on context- specific topics. To make this a reality, a model for how natural conversations start in a specific situations has been developed, based on data from that same situation in real life: a stranger asking another stranger for directions to a particular place in downtown Reykjavik. This involved defining a multimodal an- notation scheme, outlining the communicative functions and behaviors associated with them. However, current annotation schemes lacked the appropriate function for this specific case, which lead us to finding and proposing an appropriate commu-nicative function – the Explicit Announcement of Presence. A study was conducted to explore and better understand how conversation is initiated in first encounters between people who do not know each other. Human-to-human conversations were analyzed for the purpose of modelling a realistic conversation between human users and virtual agents. Results from the study have led to the inclusion of the communicative function in the human-to-agent conversation system. By playing the game the learners will be exposed to situations that they may encounter in real life, and therefore the interaction is based on real life data, rather than textbook examples. We believe that this application will help bridge the gap from the class room to the real world, preparing learners to initiate conversations with real Icelandic speakers.

Nyckelord

Explicit Announcement of Presence, communicative function, human-agent interaction, embodied conversational agent, multimodal communication, natural language, social behavior

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