Sympathy for the Agent: Controlling an agent's nonverbal repertoire: An extended abstract

Humans exhibit a wide repertoire of nonverbal behaviors, behaviors that can serve a variety of functions both for the person exhibiting them as well as for people observing them. For example, deictic gestures[10] (e.g., pointing) play a central, intended role in communicating information to another person. On the other hand, a gesture such as rubbing one's thigh or a facial expression of fear may have no explicitly intended role in communication. Nevertheless, they may reveal considerable information about a person, their emotional arousal, their attitudes and traits. In particular, observers can reliably infer a person’s emotions and attitudes from their nonverbal behaviors [4] and therefore potentially respond in a variety of ways, such as by empathizing. At the same time, there are individual and cultural differences in the use of such behaviors as well as differences due to an individual's current role. Overall, nonverbal behaviors play a major role in identifying a person as a unique personality as well as a role in helping others forge an identification with them.