Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
1.
Be physically embodied and be able to engage users in face-to-face interactions
2.
Exhibit believable verbal and non-verbal behaviours
3.
Have an emotion system
4.
Be able to recognise, greet and remember users
5.
Simulate social roles common in board games
7.3.1
Physical Embodiment and Face-to-Face Interaction
When playing board games against digital opponents the social possibilities are re-
stricted. When someone plays against a human opponent, he/she can try to look for
a hesitation or an expressed emotion that could indicate a bad move. In contrast
when playing against a computer, in most cases, we can only see pieces moving on
a graphical interface. Nevertheless, as we have seen in our related work we can al-
ready encounter some embodied artificial opponents. Artificial opponents are in most
part represented by simple avatars (static pictures) or by two or three dimensional
animated virtual agents. It has been reported in virtual poker environments that the
simple addition of a picture to personify players can be considered as more likeable,
engaging and comfortable (Koda and Maes
1996
). We can also find examples where
physically embodied agents (or robots) are used to simulate opponents. In our previ-
ous work, we have showed that by using a robotic embodiment, artificial opponents
are reported to have an improved feedback, immersion and social interaction (Pereira
et al.
2008
).
Facial features might be the most important factor to embody in most tabletop
game opponents. Users are not distracted by the presence of a face or facial expres-
sions. Instead, they are more engaged in the task because they can try to interpret
faces and facial expressions. The embodied use of facial features, believable move-
ment and the ability to express or recognize emotional content are also important
factors for artificial opponents and for achieving a higher sense of social presence,
as argued in subsection
7.2.1
.
As such, a board game artificial opponent should have a physical embodiment
and be able to engage in face-to-face interaction with one or multiple participants.
Placing more than one person in media interactions can be an easy way to induce
a sense of presence regardless of the other perceptual features of the world (Heeter
1992
). The number of entities (being them virtual or human), influence positively
the perception of social presence in an interactive system.
7.3.2
Believable Verbal and Non-Verbal Behaviour
When we interact with virtual characters or robots, verbal communication offers the
most attractive input and output alternative. We are familiarized with it, requires min-
imal physical effort from the user, and leaves users' hands and eyes free (Yankelovich
