The effects of virtual agent humor and gaze behavior on human-virtual agent proxemics

TitleThe effects of virtual agent humor and gaze behavior on human-virtual agent proxemics
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsKhooshabeh, P., S. Gandhe, C. McCall, J. Gratch, J. Blascovich, and D. R. Traum
Conference NameProceedings of 11th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents, IVA 2011
Date Published09/2011
Conference LocationReykjavik, Iceland
Abstract

We study whether a virtual agent that delivers humor through verbal behavior can affect an individual's proxemic behavior towards the agent. Participants interacted with a virtual agent through natural language and, in a separate task, performed an embodied interpersonal interaction task in a virtual environment. The study used minimum distance as the dependent measure. Humor generated by the virtual agent through a text chat did not have any significant effects on the proxemic task. This is likely due to the experimental constraint of only allowing participants to interact with a disembodied agent through a textual chat dialogue.

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