Designing relational agents as long term social companions for older adults

Laura Pfeifer Vardoulakis, Lazlo Ring, Barbara Barry, Candace L. Sidner, Timothy Bickmore

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Older adults with strong social connections are at a reduced risk for health problems and mortality. We describe two field studies to inform the development of a virtual agent designed to provide long-term, continuous social support to isolated older adults. Findings include the topics that older adults would like to discuss with a companion agent, in addition to overall reactions to interacting with a remote-controlled companion agent installed in their home for a week. Results indicate a generally positive attitude towards companion agents and a rich research agenda for virtual companion agents.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIntelligent Virtual Agents - 12th International Conference, IVA 2012, Proceedings
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages289-302
Number of pages14
ISBN (Print)9783642331961
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event12th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents, IVA 2012 - Santa Cruz, CA, United States
Duration: Sep 12 2012Sep 14 2012

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume7502 LNAI
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference12th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents, IVA 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySanta Cruz, CA
Period9/12/129/14/12

Keywords

  • relational agents
  • social dialogue
  • social interfaces
  • wizard-of-oz study

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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