Timothy Bickmore, Rosalind W. Picard

Abstract

Relational agents are computational artifacts designed to build long-term, social-emotional relationships with their users. In this paper we argue that subtle expressivity is especially crucial in human-computer interactions with relational agents in which social tasks such as relationship building or negotiation are being performed. We discuss these issues in the context of a relational agent designed to interact repeatedly with users during a one-month exercise adoption program. Keywords Subtle expressiveness, affect, emotion, non-verbal behavior, long-term interaction, embodied conversational agent