Kuyten, Pascal; Bickmore, Timothy; Stoyanchev, Svetlana; Piwek, Paul; Prendinger, Helmut and Ishizuka, Mitsuru
(2012).
| DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link: | http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1007/978-3-642-33197-8_1 |
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| Google Scholar: | Look up in Google Scholar |
Abstract
We introduce a novel approach for automatically generating a virtual instructor from textual input only. Our fully implemented system first analyzes the rhetorical structure of the input text and then creates various question-answer pairs using patterns. These patterns have been derived from correlations found between rhetorical structure of monologue texts and question-answer pairs in the corresponding dialogues. A selection of the candidate pairs is verbalized into a diverse collection of question-answer pairs. Finally the system compiles the collection of question-answer pairs into scripts for a virtual instructor. Our end-to-end system presents questions in pre-fixed order and the agent answers them. Our system was evaluated with a group of twenty-four subjects. The evaluation was conducted using three informed consent documents of clinical trials from the domain of colon cancer. Each of the documents was explained by a virtual instructor using 1) text, 2) text and agent monologue, and 3) text and agent performing question-answering. Results show that an agent explaining an informed consent document did not provide significantly better comprehension scores, but did score higher on satisfaction, compared to two control conditions.
| Item Type: | Conference Item |
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| Copyright Holders: | 2012 Springer-Verlag |
| Extra Information: | Intelligent
Virtual Agents 12th International Conference, IVA 2012 Santa Cruz, CA, USA, September, 12-14, 2012 Proceedings Edited by Yukiko Nakano, Michael Neff, Ana Paiva, Marilyn Walker Berlin : Springer-Verlag, 2012 Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, 7502 ISBN 978-3-642-33196-1 pp.1-14 |
| Keywords: | embodied conversational agent; question generation; natural language generation; dialogue system |
| Academic Unit/Department: | Mathematics, Computing and Technology > Computing |
| Interdisciplinary Research Centre: | Centre for Research in Computing (CRC) |
| Related URLs: | |
| Item ID: | 34669 |
| Depositing User: | Paul Piwek |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Oct 2012 13:01 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2013 13:31 |
| URI: | http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/34669 |
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