"Can you say more about the location?" The Development of a Pedagogical Reference Resolution Agent

TL;DR

This paper introduces a collaborative game designed to enhance geographic literacy by engaging players in locating countries on a world map, with implementations both online and face-to-face using a robot.

Contribution

It develops and compares two versions of a geographic learning game, demonstrating its effectiveness and engagement in improving map-related knowledge.

Findings

Participants found the game engaging.

Players reported lasting geographic knowledge gains.

The game was successfully implemented online and face-to-face.

Abstract

In an increasingly globalized world, geographic literacy is crucial. In this paper, we present a collaborative two-player game to improve people's ability to locate countries on the world map. We discuss two implementations of the game: First, we created a web-based version which can be played with the remote-controlled agent Nellie. With the knowledge we gained from a large online data collection, we re-implemented the game so it can be played face-to-face with the Furhat robot Neil. Our analysis shows that participants found the game not just engaging to play, they also believe they gained lasting knowledge about the world map.