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Intelligent Virtual Agents and Culture

Intelligente virtuelle Agenten (IVAs) sind interaktive digitale Charaktere, die menschenähnliche Eigenschaften aufweisen und mit Menschen und untereinander unter Verwendung natürlicher menschlicher Modalitäten wie Mimik, Sprache und Gestik kommunizieren können. Sie sind in der Lage, Wahrnehmung, Kognition, Emotionen und Handlungen in Echtzeit auszuführen, die es ihnen ermöglichen, in dynamischen sozialen Umgebungen zu partizipieren.

Kultur als soziales Phänomen wird seit etwa zwei Jahrzehnten mit IVAs erforscht. In unserer früheren Forschung haben wir uns auf die Modellierung des kulturellen Hintergrunds für IVAs auf der Grundlage nationaler Kulturen oder kultureller Dimensionen konzentriert. Mit IVAs, die sich kulturspezifisch verhalten (z.B. Unterschiede im verbalen Verhalten, im Kommunikationsmanagement, in der Gestenverwendung oder in der Körperhaltung), können Unterschiede zwischen prototypischen kulturellen Verhaltensmerkmalen aufgezeigt, das kulturelle Bewusstsein gesteigert oder spezifische Nutzerpräferenzen erfüllt werden, um die Akzeptanz von IVAs zu erhöhen.

In unserer jüngsten Forschung untersuchen wir IVAs in gemischtkulturellen Umgebungen, insbesondere wenn sich Muttersprachler und Nicht-Muttersprachler treffen. Eine entscheidende Frage ist, wie eine IVA als ausländisch/außerhalb der Gruppe wahrgenommen werden kann. Zum Beispiel muss die Sprache von Nicht-Muttersprachlern angemessen erzeugt werden, um Verhaltensphänomene zu untersuchen, die in solchen gemischten kulturellen Umgebungen auftreten. 


Beteiligte Mitarbeiter

Prof. Dr. Birgit Lugrin

David Obremski (M.Sc.)


Zugehörige Veröffentlichungen

2022[ to top ]
  • The impact of mixed-cultural speech on the stereotypical perception of a virtual robot. Obremski, David; Friedrich, Paula; Haak, Nora; Schaper, Philipp; Lugrin, Birgit. In Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 9. Frontiers Media SA, 2022.
  • Challenge Discussion on Socially Interactive Agents: Considerations on Social Interaction, Computational Architectures, Evaluation, and Ethics. Lugrin, Birgit; Pelachaud, Catherine; André, Elisabeth; Aylett, Ruth; Bickmore, Timothy; Breazeal, Cynthia; Broekens, Joost; Dautenhahn, Kerstin; Gratch, Jonathan; Kopp, Stefan; Nadel, Jacqueline; Paiva, Ana; Wykowska, Agnieszka. In The Handbook on Socially Interactive Agents: 20 years of Research on Embodied Conversational Agents, Intelligent Virtual Agents, and Social Robotics Volume 2: Interactivity, Platforms, Application, pp. 561–626. ACM, 2022.
  • Preface. Lugrin, Birgit. In The Handbook on Socially Interactive Agents: 20 years of Research on Embodied Conversational Agents, Intelligent Virtual Agents, and Social Robotics Volume 2: Interactivity, Platforms, Application, p. xxv-xl. ACM, 2022.
  • The Handbook on Socially Interactive Agents: 20 years of Research on Embodied Conversational Agents, Intelligent Virtual Agents, and Social Robotics Volume 2: Interactivity, Platforms, Application. Lugrin, Birgit; Pelachaud, Catherine; Traum, David. ACM, 2022.
  • Exploratory Study on the Perception of Intelligent Virtual Agents With Non-Native Accents Using Synthetic and Natural Speech in German. Obremski, David; Hering, Helena Babette; Friedrich, Paula; Lugrin, Birgit. In INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MULTIMODAL INTERACTION. ACM, 2022.
2021[ to top ]
  • Non-native speaker perception of Intelligent Virtual Agents in two languages: the impact of amount and type of grammatical mistakes. Obremski, David; Lugrin, Jean-Luc; Schaper, Philipp; Lugrin, Birgit. In Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces. 2021.
2020[ to top ]
  • What if it speaks like it was from the village? Effects of a Robot speaking in Regional Language Variations on Users’ Evaluations. Lugrin, B.; Ströle, E.; Obremski, D.; Schwab, F.; Lange, B. In 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2020), pp. 1315–1320. 2020.
2019[ to top ]
  • Non-Native Speaker Generation and Perception for Mixed-Cultural Settings. Obremski, David; Lugrin, Jean-Luc; Schaper, Philipp; Lugrin, Birgit. In ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents 2019. ACM, 2019.
2018[ to top ]
  • Adapted Foreigner-directed Communication towards Virtual Agents. Lugrin, Birgit; Eckstein, Benjamin; Bergmann, Kirsten; Heindl, Corinna. In 18th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA 2018), pp. 59–64. ACM, 2018.
  • A Pilot Study on Adaptive Gesture Use in Interaction with Non-native Listeners. Bergmann, Kirsten; Rull, Maria del Mar Cordero; Lugrin, Birgit. In 4th International Workshop on Multimodal Analyses Enabling Artificial Agents in Human-Machine Interaction, pp. 26–32. ACM, 2018.
2017[ to top ]
  • Combining a Data-driven and a Theory-based Approach to Generate Culture-dependent Behaviours for Virtual Characters. Lugrin, Birgit; Frommel, Julian; André, Elisabeth. In Advances in Culturally-Aware Intelligent Systems and in Cross-Cultural Psychological Studies, C. Faucher (ed.). Springer, 2017.
2015[ to top ]
  • Modeling and Evaluating a Bayesian Network of Culture-dependent Behaviors. Lugrin, Birgit; Frommel, Julian; André, Elisabeth. In International Conference on Culture and Computing. IEEE, 2015.
  • Learning to Overcome Cultural Conflict through Engaging with Intelligent Agents in Synthetic Cultures. Hall, L.; Tazzyman, S.; Hume, C.; Endrass, B.; Lim, M.; Hofstede, G.; Paiva, A.; André, E.; Kappas, A.; Aylett, R. In International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 25(2), pp. 291–317. 2015.
2014[ to top ]
  • {Integration of Cultural Factors into the Behavioural Models of Virtual Characters}. B. Endrass, E. André. In Natural Language Generation in Interactive Systems, A. Stent, S. Bangalore (eds.), pp. 227–251. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • Effects of Language Variety on Personality Perception in Embodied Conversational Agents. Krenn, Brigitte; Endrass, Birgit; Kistler, Felix; André, Elisabeth. In 16th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Advanced Interaction Modalities and Techniques, Vol. 8511 of LNCS, M. Kurosu (ed.), pp. 429–439. Springer, 2014.
  • {W}hat {I} {S}ee is {N}ot {W}hat {Y}ou {G}et: {W}hy {C}ulture-{S}pecific {B}ehaviours for {V}irtual {C}haracters {S}hould {B}e {U}ser-{T}ested {A}cross {C}ultures. Degens, Nick; Endrass, Birgit; Hofstede, Gert Jan; Beulens, Adrie; André, Elisabeth. In {AI} and {S}ociety. 2014.
  • A Pictorial Interaction Language for Children to Communicate with Cultural Virtual Characters. Endrass, Birgit; Hall, Lynne E.; Hume, Colette; Tazzyman, Sarah; André, Elisabeth. In 16th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Advanced Interaction Modalities and Techniques, Vol. 8511 of LNCS, M. Kurosu (ed.), pp. 532–543. Springer, 2014.
  • A hybrid Approach to model a Bayesian Network of Culture-specific Behavior. Endrass, Birgit; Frommel, Julian; André, Elisabeth. In International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2014), A. L. C. Bazzan, M. N. Huhns, A. Lomuscio, P. Scerri (eds.), pp. 1395–1396. IFAAMAS, 2014.
  • {MIXER: why the difference?}. Nazir, Asad; Aylett, Ruth S.; Lim, Mei Yii; Endrass, Birgit; Hall, Lynne E.; Ritter, Christopher. In International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2014), A. L. C. Bazzan, M. N. Huhns, A. Lomuscio, P. Scerri (eds.), pp. 1687–1688. IFAAMAS, 2014.
  • Engaging with Virtual Characters using a Pictorial Interaction Language. Endrass, Birgit; Hall, Lynne E.; Hume, Colette; Tazzyman, Sarah; André, Elisabeth; Aylett, Ruth. In Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA 2014), M. Jones, P. A. Palanque, A. Schmidt, T. Grossman (eds.), pp. 531–534. ACM, 2014.
  • Werewolves, Cheats, and Cultural Sensitivity. Aylett, Ruth; Hall, Lynne E.; Tazzyman, Sarah; Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Ritter, Christopher; Nazir, Asad; Paiva, Ana; Hofstede, Gert Jan; Kappas, Arvid. In International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2014), A. L. C. Bazzan, M. N. Huhns, A. Lomuscio, P. Scerri (eds.), pp. 1085–1092. IFAAMAS, 2014.
2013[ to top ]
  • Investigating the Influence of Culture on Proxemic Behaviors for Humanoid Robots. Eresha, Ghadeer; Häring, Markus; Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Obaid, Mohammad. In International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2013), pp. 430–435. IEEE, 2013.
  • Cultural Diversity for Virtual Characters (Extended Abstract). Endrass, Birgit. In International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI 2013), F. Rossi (ed.). IJCAI/AAAI, 2013.
  • Investigating Culture-related Aspects of Behavior for Virtual Characters. Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Rehm, Matthias; Nakano, Yukiko. In Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 27(2), pp. 277–304. 2013.
2012[ to top ]
  • Cultural Diversity for Virtual Characters - Investigating Behavioral Aspects across Cultures.. Technical Report (PhD dissertation), . Endrass, Birgit. PhD dissertation, pp. I–IV, 1. Universität Augsburg, 2012.
  • {Cultural Behaviors of Virtual Agents in an Augmented Reality Environment}. Obaid, Mohammad; Damian, Ionut; Kistler, Felix; Endrass, Birgit; Wagner, Johannes; André, Elisabeth. In 12th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA 2012), Vol. 7502 of LNCS, Y. I. Nakano, M. Neff, A. Paiva, M. A. Walker (eds.), pp. 412–418. Springer, 2012.
  • Natural Interaction with Culturally Adaptive Virtual Characters. Kistler, Felix; Endrass, Birgit; Damian, Ionut; Dang, Chi Tai; André, Elisabeth. In Multimodal User Interfaces, 6(1-2), pp. 39–47. 2012.
  • ECUTE: Difference is good!. Nazir, A; Ritter, C; Aylett, R; Krumhuber, E; Swiderska, A; Degens, N; Endrass, B. In International Conference on E-Learning, (IADIS), pp. 425–429. 2012.
2011[ to top ]
  • {Culture-related Differences in Aspects of Behavior for Virtual Characters across Germany and Japan}. Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Rehm, Matthias; Lipi, Afia Akhter; Nakano, Yukiko I. In 10th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2011), L. Sonenberg, P. Stone, K. Tumer, P. Yolum (eds.), pp. 441–448. IFAAMAS, 2011.
  • Culture-Related Topic Selection in Small Talk Conversations across Germany and Japan. Endrass, Birgit; Nakano, Yukiko I.; Lipi, Afia Akhter; Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth. In 11th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA 2011), Vol. 6895 of LNCS, H. H. Vilhjálmsson, S. Kopp, S. Marsella, K. R. Thórisson (eds.), pp. 1–13. Springer, 2011.
  • Integration and Evaluation of Prototypical Culture-related Differences. Endrass, Birgit; Degens, Nick; Hofstede, Gert Jan; André, Elisabeth; Hodgson, John; Mascarenhas, Samuel; Mehlmann, Gregor; Paiva, Ana; Ritter, Christopher; Swiderska, Aleksandra. In Workshop on Culturally Motivated Virtual Characters (CMVC 2011), in conjunction with IVA 2011. 2011.
  • Planning Small Talk Behavior with Cultural Influences for Multiagent Systems. Endrass, Birgit; Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth. In Computer Speech \& Language, 25(2), pp. 158–174. 2011.
2010[ to top ]
  • A data-driven approach to model culture-specific communication management styles for virtual agents. Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Huang, Lixing; Gratch, Jonathan. In 9th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2010), Vol. 1, W. van der Hoek, G. A. Kaminka, Y. Lespérance, M. Luck, S. Sen (eds.), pp. 99–108. IFAAMAS, 2010.
  • Towards Culturally-Aware Virtual Agent Systems. Endrass, Birgit; André, Elisabeth; Rehm, Matthias. In Handbook of Research on Culturally-Aware Information Technology: Perspectives and Models: Perspectives and Models, E. G. Blanchard, D. Allard (eds.), pp. 412–430. IGI Global, 2010.
  • Generating Culture-Specific Gestures for Virtual Agent Dialogs. Endrass, Birgit; Damian, Ionut; Huber, Peter; Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth. In 10th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA 2010), Vol. 6356 of LNCS, J. M. Allbeck, N. I. Badler, T. W. Bickmore, C. Pelachaud, A. Safonova (eds.), pp. 329–335. Springer, 2010.
2009[ to top ]
  • {Culture-specific Communication Management for Virtual Agents}. Endrass, Birgit; Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth. In 8th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2009), Vol. 1 of AAMAS \u002709, C. Sierra, C. Castelfranchi, K. S. Decker, J. S. Sichman (eds.), pp. 281–287. IFAAMAS, 2009.
  • {Creating Standardized Video Recordings of Multimodal Interactions across Cultures}. Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth; Bee, Nikolaus; Endrass, Birgit; Wissner, Michael; Nakano, Yukiko I.; Lipi, Afia Akhter; Nishida, Toyoaki; Huang, Hung-Hsuan. In Multimodal Corpora, Vol. 5509, M. Kipp, J.-C. Martin, P. Paggio, D. Heylen (eds.), pp. 138–159. Springer, 2009.
  • From observation to simulation: generating culture-specific behavior for interactive systems. Rehm, Matthias; Nakano, Yukiko I.; André, Elisabeth; Nishida, Toyoaki; Bee, Nikolaus; Endrass, Birgit; Wissner, Michael; Lipi, Afia Akhter; Huang, Hung-Hsuan. In {AI \& Society}, 24(3), pp. 267–280. 2009.
2008[ to top ]
  • Talk is silver, silence is golden: A cross-cultural study on the use of pauses in speech. Endrass, Birgit; Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth; Nakano, Yukiko. In 4th International Workshop on Human-Computer Conversation. 2008.
2007[ to top ]
  • {The CUBE-G approach - Coaching culture-specific nonverbal behavior by virtual agents}. Rehm, Matthias; André, Elisabeth; Nakano, Yukiko; Nishida, Toyoaki; Bee, Nikolaus; Endrass, Birgit; Huan, Hung-Hsuan; Wissner, Michael. In Organizing and Learning through Gaming and Simulation (ISAGA 2007), I. Mayer, H. Mastik (eds.). 2007.