Multiparty Communication with a Tour Guide ECA

Apr 21, 20231

Multiparty Communication with a Tour Guide ECA

Aleksandra ČerekovićHOTLab group

Department of telecommunicationsFaculty of electrical engineering and computing

Zagreb University

http://hotlab.tel.fer.hr

Outline

Apr 21, 20232

Project overview Background Information eNTERFACE ‘08 system

features scenario configuration

Project members

Project Overview

Apr 21, 20233

Project target System with an Embodied Conversational Agent

(ECA) ECA is a tour guide which describes the city of

Dubrovnik to two visitors and interacts with them We aim to explore issues of a multiparty

support in ECA system with focus on: Dialogue support

Participant roles Interaction Management Dialogue structure

Nonverbal behavior model of an ECA Getting attention, model of gazing, maintaining a

conversational flow

Background Information

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During eNTERFACE ‘06 workshop we developed a Tour Guide system

System is based on common GECA framework GECA Platform, GECA Protocol, GECA Plugs Connects various system components Tranfers messages between components in the real

time Enables simple system integration

eNTERFACE ‘08 system scenario

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In our system scenario ECA has a role of narrator ECA takes visitor through 5 different scenes in the

city Users can interrupt ECA

They can raise their hands to take a speaker’s role or just say something

User utterances are predefined: they can make comments, have requests or just express thier willingness to leave the session

Durring interaction ECA keeps initiative and gets attention

eNTERFACE ‘08 system design

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Component functionalities (I)

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Input Captures speech and users’ position, size, openness of

the eyes and the mouth, facial orientation (Okao’s Vision)

Deliberative phase components Input understanding

Interprets raw messages coming from the system input Detects speaker and his utterance (request, comment, leave the

system) Detects speech collision and mutual conversation between users

Decision Making Planner (Dialogue Management) Generates transitions between dialogue states in a multiparty

interaction (Information State, Nonverbal Event, Specifying addressee, Grounding judgment, Assuming the next speaker)

MIDIKI DM toolkit will be extended to manage multiparty interaction

Component functionalities (II)

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Deliberative phase components Behavior Planner

Generates appropriate response by an ECA Dynamically changes ECA’s behaviors according the Information

State

Output Player

Generates ECA’s behaviors selected by Behavior Planner Has a support to stop utterance and start a new one

Project Members

Apr 21, 20239

Project Researches Takuya Furukawa* (Input, Input Understanding) Huang Hsuang- Hung* (DM, Behavior Planner), Shinya

Takeda** and Yuji Yamaoka** (DM) Aleksandra Cerekovic*** (Output)

Project supervisors Toyoaki Nishida* Yukiko Nakano** Igor S. Pandzic***

*University of Kyoto, Graduate School of Informatics, Nishida-Sumi Lab** Seikei University (Tokyo), Faculty of Science and Technology***University Of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing,

HOTLab group