Auditorily Embodied Conversational Agents: Effects of Spatialization and Situated Audio Cues on Presence and Social Perception

TL;DR

This study investigates how auditory cues like spatialized voice and environmental sounds can convey embodiment in conversational agents, affecting user perception of presence and social attributes without visual cues.

Contribution

It introduces auditory embodiment techniques using spatialized audio and Foley sounds, demonstrating their effects on presence and social perception in conversational agents.

Findings

Spatialized audio and Foley increase perceived co-presence.

These auditory cues decrease perceptions of the agent's attention and social attributes.

Abstract

Embodiment can enhance conversational agents, such as increasing their perceived presence. This is typically achieved through visual representations of a virtual body; however, visual modalities are not always available, such as when users interact with agents using headphones or display-less glasses. In this work, we explore auditory embodiment. By introducing auditory cues of bodily presence - through spatially localized voice and situated Foley audio from environmental interactions - we investigate how audio alone can convey embodiment and influence perceptions of a conversational agent. We conducted a 2 (spatialization: monaural vs. spatialized) x 2 (Foley: none vs. Foley) within-subjects study, where participants (n=24) engaged in conversations with agents. Our results show that spatialization and Foley increase co-presence, but reduce users' perceptions of the agent's attention and other social attributes.