For the last 20 years the dominant form of user interface has been the Graphical User Interface (GUl) with direct manipulation. As software gets more complicated and more and more inexperienced users come into contact with computers, enticed by the World Wide Web and smaller mobile devices, new interface metaphors are required. The increasing complexity of software has introduced more options to the user. This seemingly increased control actually decreases control as the number of options and features available to them overwhelms the users and 'information overload' can occur (Lachman, 1997). Conversational anthropomorphic interfaces provide a possible alternative to the direct manipulation metaphor. The aim of this paper is to investigate users reactions and assumptions when interacting with anthropomorphic agents. Here we consider how the level of anthropomorphism exhibited by the character and the level of interaction affects these assumptions. We compared characters of different levels of anthropomorphic abstraction, from a very abstract character to a realistic yet not human character. As more software is released for general use with anthropomorphic interfaces there seems to be no consensus of what the characters should look like and what look is more suited for different applications. Some software and research opts for realistic looking characters (for example, Haptek Inc. , see others opt for cartoon characters (Microsoft, 1999) others opt for floating heads (Dohi & Ishizuka, 1997; Takama & Ishizuka, 1998; Koda, 1996; Koda & Maes, 1996a; Koda & Maes, 1996b).
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Keynotes. - Fun, Communication and Dependability: Extending the Concept of Usability. - Anthropomorphism. - Invisible but Audible: Enhancing Information Awareness through Anthropomorphic Speech. - User Perception of Anthropomorphic Characters with Varying Levels of Interaction. - CSCW. - A Tool for Performing and Analysing Experiments on Graphical Communication. - A Comparison of Text Messaging and Email Support for Digital Communities: A Case Study. - An Affordance-based Framework for CVE Evaluation. - Extending Low-cost Remote Evaluation with Synchronous Communication. - Impedance Matching: When You Need to Know What. - Multiple Viewpoints on Computer Supported Team Work: A Case Study on Ambulance Dispatch. - Design Process. - Pattern Languages in Participatory Design. - Provoking Innovation: Acting-out in Contextual Scenarios. - Haptic Interfaces. - Guidelines for the Design of Haptic Widgets. - Multi-session VR Medical Training: The HOPS Simulator. - Memorable Systems. - An Investigation of Memory for Daily Computing Events. - How People Recognise Previously Seen Web Pages from Titles, URLs and Thumbnails. - MATI: A System for Accessing Travel Itinerary Information using Mobile Phones. - User Interface Design as Systems Design. - Usability. - A Comparison of Think-aloud, Questionnaires and Interviews for Testing Usability with Children. - An Eye Movement Analysis of Web Page Usability. - Auditory Emotional Feedback Facilitates Human-Computer Interaction. - Navigation in the Software Development Information Space. - Selecting the `Invisible User Interface Development Tool. - VE and Games. - Non-Verbal Communication Forms in Multi-player Game Session. - Support Robots for Playing Games: The Role of Player-Actor Relationship. - Author Index. - Keyword Index.
