Beyond Text and Speech in Conversational Agents: Mapping the Design Space of Avatars

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

7-1-2024

Abstract

Conversational agents have gained widespread popularity due to their ability to simulate and sustain contextual conversations. Prior works predominantly focused on computational challenges. However, avatars — the representation of the agent — impact user interactions and perception of conversational agents’ trustworthiness and usefulness. Despite their importance, we lack a holistic understanding of conversational agent avatar design space. In this work, we address this gap by defning a categorization of 10 dimensions that is based on the analysis and iterative coding of 266 conversational agent papers from 160 venues spanning 2003 to the present. In addition, we built an interactive browser to facilitate exploration and interaction with these dimensions and their interrelationships. Our categorization lays the groundwork for researchers, designers, and practitioners to discern task-specifc and contextual aspects of conversational agent avatar design. Our work fosters innovative ideas to facilitate new interactions with avatars by surfacing current patterns and highlighting open challenges.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, DIS 2024

First Page

1875

Last Page

1894

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