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Can We Take Out CARLA from the Uncanny Valley? Analyzing Avatar Design of an Educational Conversational Agent

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Advances in Computational Intelligence. MICAI 2023 International Workshops (MICAI 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14502))

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Abstract

The integration of conversational agents into virtual-reality educational environments holds immense promise. However, the uncanny valley phenomenon looms as a critical challenge, potentially impacting the effectiveness of these educational agents. This manuscript delves into the pivotal role of avatar design within virtual-reality educational systems and its implications for user experience during learning sessions. In this work, a comprehensive comparison of two distinct avatars used by a virtual-reality conversational educational agent was undertaken, exploring their impact on user acceptance and enjoyability. Through user feedback, the avatar design that mitigates the uncanny valley effect was determined, ultimately allowing to choose the best avatar to enhance human-computer interaction.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.blender.org/.

  2. 2.

    https://github.com/dccsillag/unity-facs-facial-expression-animation.

  3. 3.

    https://forms.gle/X7KfJmzmCB8zGE6m8.

  4. 4.

    https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/ccpv/2020/.

  5. 5.

    https://www.cuentame.inegi.org.mx/poblacion/escolaridad.aspx.

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Acknowledgments

Data files and R codes for the statistical analyses can be found at https://github.com/Rand0m-Guy/CARLA-Analyses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela Superior de Cómputo, Mexico City, Mexico

    Pablo Isaac Macias-Huerta

  2. Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Mexico

    Carlos Natanael Lecona-Valdespino

  3. BBVA Mexico, Data Portfolio Management, Mexico City, Mexico

    Guillermo Santamaría-Bonfil

  4. University of South Australia Online, Adelaide, Australia

    Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos

Authors
  1. Pablo Isaac Macias-Huerta
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  2. Carlos Natanael Lecona-Valdespino
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  3. Guillermo Santamaría-Bonfil
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  4. Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guillermo Santamaría-Bonfil .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Center for Computing Research, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Hiram Calvo

  2. Panamerican University, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Lourdes Martínez-Villaseñor

  3. Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Hiram Ponce

  4. Instituto Tecnologico de Culiacan, Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico

    Ramón Zatarain Cabada

  5. Universidad Politécnica de Aguascalient, Aguascalientes, Mexico

    Martín Montes Rivera

  6. Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, Mexico

    Efrén Mezura-Montes

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Macias-Huerta, P.I., Lecona-Valdespino, C.N., Santamaría-Bonfil, G., Marmolejo-Ramos, F. (2024). Can We Take Out CARLA from the Uncanny Valley? Analyzing Avatar Design of an Educational Conversational Agent. In: Calvo, H., Martínez-Villaseñor, L., Ponce, H., Zatarain Cabada, R., Montes Rivera, M., Mezura-Montes, E. (eds) Advances in Computational Intelligence. MICAI 2023 International Workshops. MICAI 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14502. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51940-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51940-6_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-51939-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-51940-6

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