Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 9
Co-speech Gesture Generation
for Embodied Agents and its
Effects on User Evaluation
Kirsten Bergmann
1. Introduction
When we are face to face with others, we use not only speech, but
also a multitude of nonverbal behaviors to communicate with each
other. A head nod expresses accordance with what someone else said
before. A facial expression like a frown indicates doubts or misgivings
about what one is hearing or seeing. A pointing gesture is used to
refer to something. More complex movements or configurations of
the hands depict the shape or size of an object. Of all these nonverbal
behaviors, gestures, the spontaneous and meaningful hand motions
that accompany speech, stand out as they are very closely linked to
the semantic content of the speech they accompany, in both form
and timing. Speech and gesture together comprise an utterance and
externalize thought; they are believed to emerge from the same
underlying cognitive representation and to be governed, at least in
part, by the same cognitive processes (Kendon, 2004; McNeill, 2005).
Gestures are an integral part of human communication, as Goldin-
Meadow (2003, p. 4) so aptly put it: “whenever there is talk, there is
gesture”. There is, actually, a growing body of evidence substantiating
the significant role of gestures. The importance becomes apparent
in the fact that gestures already develop early in our linguistic
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