Influence of Personality and Communication Behavior of a Conversational Agent on User Experience and Social Presence in Augmented Reality

TL;DR

This study investigates how the personality and non-verbal communication of virtual agents in AR influence user experience and social presence, highlighting the importance of agent representation and body language.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into how different agent personalities and body languages impact user perceptions and social presence in AR environments.

Findings

Agent personality and body language significantly affect user perception.

Humor and agent representation influence user experience.

Body language plays a key role in AR agent evaluation.

Abstract

A virtual embodiment can benefit conversational agents, but it is unclear how their personalities and non-verbal behavior influence the User Experience and Social Presence in Augmented Reality (AR). We asked 30 users to converse with a virtual assistant who gives recommendations about city activities. The participants interacted with two different personalities: Sammy, a cheerful blue mouse, and Olive, a serious green human-like agent. Each was presented with two body languages - happy/friendly and annoyed/unfriendly. We conclude how agent representation and humor affect User Experience aspects, and that body language is significant in the evaluation and perception of the AR agent.