Skip to main content

Why Should Agents Be Emotional for Entertaining Users? A Critical Analysis

  • Chapter
Affective Interactions (IWAI 1999)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1814))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Emotional agents can play a very important role in all those computer applications where the user does not (only) want to perform a task, but (also) to have a more engaging experience than with traditional systems. In fact, it is commonly assumed that the agents’ ability to process and display affective states, and to show emotional reactions, is crucial for causing a more enjoyable interaction between agent and user. This work proposes to analyze such assumption from a critical viewpoint, identifying several open issues that are worth debating in the community and studying through empirical methods.

The author is currently supported by a scholarship from the Committee 12 (Information Science and Technology) of the National Research Council of Italy. She is extremely grateful to Maria Miceli for her precious comments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. André, E., Klesen, M., Gebhard, P., Allen, S., Rist, T.: Integrating models of personality and emotions into lifelike characters. In: Paiva, A., Martinho, C. (eds.) Proceedings of the Workshop on Affect in Interactions of the i3 Annual Conference, Siena (Italy), October 21-22, pp. 136–149 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  2. André, E., Rist, T., Müller, J.: Integrating reactive and scripted behaviors in a life-like presentation agent. In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Autonomous Agents, pp. 261–268. ACM Press, New York (1998)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Bates, J.: The role of emotion in believable agents. Communications of the ACM 37(7), 122–125 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bates, J., Loyall, A.B., Reilly, W.S.: Integrating reactivity, goals, and emotion in a broad agent. In: Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Bloomington (IN), Also available as: Technical Report CMU-CS-92-142, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Carbonell, J.: Towards a process model of human personality traits. Artificial Intelligence 15, 49–74 (1980)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Castelfranchi, C.: To believe and to feel: The case of “needs”. In: Canamero, D. (ed.) Proceedings of AAAI Fall Symposium Emotional and Intelligent: The Tangled Knot of Cognition, pp. 55–60. AAAI Press, Menlo Park (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P., Warshaw, P.R.: Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation to use computers in the workplace. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 22, 1111–1132 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Dehn, D.M., van Mulken, S.: The impact of animated interface agents: A review of empirical research. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (1999) (to appear)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Elliott, C.: The Affective Reasoner: A Process Model of Emotions in a Multi-Agent System. PhD thesis, Northwestern University, Evanston (IL), Technical Report no. 32 (May 1992)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Frank, A., Stern, A., Resner, B.: Socially intelligent virtual petz. In: Proceedings of the AAAI 1997 Spring Symposium on “Socially Intelligent Agents”. AAAI Technical Report FS-97-02, pp. 43–45. AAAI Press, Menlo Park, CA (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Goldberg, A.: Improv: A system for real-time animation of behavior-based interactive synthetic actors. In: Trappl, R., Petta, P. (eds.) Creating Personalities for Synthetic Actors. Springer, Berlin (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Goldstein, J.H., McGhee, P.E.: The Psychology of Humor. Academic Press, New York (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hayes-Roth, B., Brownston, L., van Gent, R.: Multi-Agent collaboration in directed improvisation. In: First International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems, pp. 148–154. MIT Press, Cambridge (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Heider, F.: The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. John Wiley & Sons, New York (1958)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  15. Heider, F., Simmel, M.: An experimental study of apparent behavior. American Journal of Psychology 57, 243–259 (1944)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Igbaria, M., Schiffman, S.J., Wieckowski, T.J.: The respective roles of perceived usefulness and perceived fun in the acceptance of microcomputer technology. Behaviour and Information Technology 13(6), 349–361 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Jones, E.E., Davis, K.E.: From acts to dispositions: The attribution process in person perception. In: Berkowitz, L. (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 2. Academic Press, London (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Laurel, B.K.: Interface as mimesis. In: Norman, D.A., Draper, S.W. (eds.) User centered system design, pp. 67–85. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Laurel, B.K.: Computers as Theatre. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Lazarus, R.S.: Emotion and adaptation. Oxford University Press, New York (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Lester, J.C., Converse, S.A., Kahler, S.E., Barlow, S.T., Stone, B.A., Bhogal, R.S.: The persona effect: Affective impact of animated pedagogical agents. In: Pemberton, S. (ed.) Human factors in computing systems: CHI 1997 Conference Proceedings, pp. 359–366. ACM Press, New York (1997)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  22. Lester, J.C., Stone, B.A.: Increasing believability in animated pedagogical agents. In: Johnson, W.L. (ed.) Proceedings of the First International Conference on Autonomous Agents, pp. 16–21. ACM Press, New York (1997)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  23. Loyall, B.: Believable Agents: Building Interactive Personalities. PhDthesis, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh (PA), Technical Report CMU-CS-97-123 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Martinho, C., Paiva, A.: Pathematic agents: Rapid development of believable emotional agents in intelligent virtual environments. In: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Autonomous Agents, pp. 1–8. ACM Press, New York (1999)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  25. Mauldlin, M.L.: Chatterbots, tinymuds, and the Turing test entering the Loebner prize competition. In: Proceedings of the 12th National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 1994). AAAI Press, Menlo Park (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Van Mulken, S., André, E., Müller, J.: The Persona Effect: How Substantial Is It. In: Proceedings of HCI 1998, Sheffield, UK, pp. 53–66 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Nass, C., Steuer, J., Tauber, E., Reeder, H.: Antropomorphism, agency, and ethopoeia: Computers as social actors. In: Interchi 1993 Conference Proceedings. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 111–112. ACM Press, New York (1993)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. Norman, D.A.: How might people interact with agents. Communications of the ACM 37(7), 68–71 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Ortony, A., Clore, G., Collins, A.: The Cognitive Structure of Emotions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Penny, S.: Embodied cultural agents: At the intersection of robotics, cognitive science and interactive arts. In: Proceedings of the AAAI 1997, Spring Symposium on “Socially Intelligent Agents”. AAAI Technical Report FS-97-02, pp. 103–105. AAAI Press, Menlo Park (CA) (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Picard, R.: Affective Computing. The MIT Press, Cambridge (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Reeves, B., Nass, C.: The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television and New Media like Real People and Places. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Reilly, W.S.: Believable Social and Emotional Agents. PhD thesis, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, Technical Report CMU-CS-96-138 (May 1996)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Rickel, J., Johnson, W.L.: Integrating pedagogical capabilities in a virtual environment agent. In: Johnson, W.L. (ed.) Proceedings of the First International Conference on Autonomous Agents, pp. 30–38. ACM Press, New York (1997)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  35. Rizzo, P.: Personalities in believable agents: A goal-based model and its realization with an integrated planning architecture. PhD thesis, Center of Cognitive Science, University of Turin, Turin, Italy (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Rizzo, P., Veloso, M.M., Miceli, M., Cesta, A.: Goal-based personalities and social behaviors in believable agents. Applied Artificial Intelligence 13(3), 239–271 (1999); Special Issue on “Socially Intelligent Agents”, edited by K. Dautenhahn and C. Numaoka

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Rousseau, D., Hayes-Roth, B.: Personality in synthetic agents. Technical report, Knowledge Systems Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Sengers, P.: Designing comprehensible agents. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI 1999), pp. 1227–1232 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Sgouros, N.M., Papakonstantinou, G., Tsanakas, P.: A framework for plot control in interactive story systems. In: Proceedings of the 13th National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 1996), pp. 162–167. AAAI Press, Menlo Park (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Shneiderman, B., Maes, P.: Direct manipulations vs interface agents: Excerpts fromde bates at IUI 1997 and CHI 1997. Interactions 4(6), 97–124 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Sloman, A., Croucher, M.: Why robots will have emotions. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI 1981), p. 197. Morgan Kaufmann, San Mateo (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Thomas, F., Johnston, O.: Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. Abbeville Press, New York (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Trappl, R., Petta, P. (eds.): Creating Personalities for Synthetic Actors. Springer, Berlin (1997)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  44. Tseng, S., Fogg, B.J.: Credibility and computing technology. Communications of the ACM 42(5), 39–44 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Weizenbaum, J.: ELIZA–A computer program for the study of natural language communication between man and machine. Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery 9(1), 36–45 (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Weizenbaum, J.: Computer Power and Human Reason. Freeman, San Francisco (1976)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Rizzo, P. (2000). Why Should Agents Be Emotional for Entertaining Users? A Critical Analysis. In: Paiva, A. (eds) Affective Interactions. IWAI 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 1814. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/10720296_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/10720296_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-41520-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44559-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics