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Design of animated pedagogical agents - A look at their look

Gulz, Agneta LU and Haake, Magnus LU (2006) In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 64(4). p.322-339
Abstract
A well-established effect of animated agents in educational and other contexts is their potential to motivate and engage. "Increased motivation in users" is also one of the more frequent answers given to the question, "What is gained by adding an animated pedagogical agent to an intelligent tutoring system?" To further develop and exploit this potential, there are, however, several issues that need to be resolved. In this article we discuss the visual form and look of animated pedagogical agents. A survey is presented of how the area is approached (and, in particular, not approached) in research on animated pedagogical agents. Two possible reasons are proposed as to why visual form and look are so little addressed are also proposed. We... (More)
A well-established effect of animated agents in educational and other contexts is their potential to motivate and engage. "Increased motivation in users" is also one of the more frequent answers given to the question, "What is gained by adding an animated pedagogical agent to an intelligent tutoring system?" To further develop and exploit this potential, there are, however, several issues that need to be resolved. In this article we discuss the visual form and look of animated pedagogical agents. A survey is presented of how the area is approached (and, in particular, not approached) in research on animated pedagogical agents. Two possible reasons are proposed as to why visual form and look are so little addressed are also proposed. We also propose and discuss some key aspects of look that merit a systematic approach in future research. The main thesis of the paper is that users' visuo-aesthetic experience of animated pedagogical agents is too important with respect to the goals to motivate and engage, to be treated as a secondary issue. We do not deny that there are other pressing and fundamental issues that need to be solved, such as those concerning the content of the support and the competence level of agents, as well as various design elements that can contribute to making animated agents lifelike. But we argue that visual rendering issues are pressing and need to be seriously addressed as well. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
animated pedagogical agents, motivational issues, visual form, visual experience, design space
in
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
volume
64
issue
4
pages
322 - 339
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000236077900003
  • scopus:33144483803
ISSN
1071-5819
DOI
10.1016/j.ijhcs.2005.08.006
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
75e3e386-2ad3-461d-97e9-0217a25e7958 (old id 415720)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:32:17
date last changed
2022-03-13 19:05:46
@article{75e3e386-2ad3-461d-97e9-0217a25e7958,
  abstract     = {{A well-established effect of animated agents in educational and other contexts is their potential to motivate and engage. "Increased motivation in users" is also one of the more frequent answers given to the question, "What is gained by adding an animated pedagogical agent to an intelligent tutoring system?" To further develop and exploit this potential, there are, however, several issues that need to be resolved. In this article we discuss the visual form and look of animated pedagogical agents. A survey is presented of how the area is approached (and, in particular, not approached) in research on animated pedagogical agents. Two possible reasons are proposed as to why visual form and look are so little addressed are also proposed. We also propose and discuss some key aspects of look that merit a systematic approach in future research. The main thesis of the paper is that users' visuo-aesthetic experience of animated pedagogical agents is too important with respect to the goals to motivate and engage, to be treated as a secondary issue. We do not deny that there are other pressing and fundamental issues that need to be solved, such as those concerning the content of the support and the competence level of agents, as well as various design elements that can contribute to making animated agents lifelike. But we argue that visual rendering issues are pressing and need to be seriously addressed as well. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Gulz, Agneta and Haake, Magnus}},
  issn         = {{1071-5819}},
  keywords     = {{animated pedagogical agents; motivational issues; visual form; visual experience; design space}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{322--339}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Human-Computer Studies}},
  title        = {{Design of animated pedagogical agents - A look at their look}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2005.08.006}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ijhcs.2005.08.006}},
  volume       = {{64}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}