We investigate the verbal and nonverbal means for grounding, and propose a design for embodied conversational agents that relies on both kinds of signals to establish common ground in human-computer interaction. We analyzed eye gaze, head nods and attentional focus in the context of a direction-giving task. The distribution of nonverbal behaviors differed depending on the type of dialogue move ...

Companion technologies aim at developing sustained long-term relationships by employing emotional, nonverbal communication skills and empathy. One of the main challenges is to equip such companions with human-like abilities to reliably detect and analyze social signals. In this proposal, we focus our investigation on the modeling of visual processing mechanisms, since evidence in literature sug...

BACKGROUND Time and communication are important aspects of the medical consultation. Physician behavior in real-life pediatric consultations in relation to ethical practice, such as informed consent (provision of information, understanding), respect for integrity and patient autonomy (decision-making), has not been subjected to thorough empirical investigation. Such investigations are important...

In pursuing the ultimate goal of enabling intelligent conversation with a virtual human, two key challenges are selecting nonverbal behaviors to implement and realizing those behaviors practically and reliably. In this paper, we explore the signals interlocutors use to display uncertainty face to face. Peoples’ signals were identified and annotated through systematic coding and then implemented...

This article investigates the role that nonverbal actions play in language processing over 3 different time frames. First, we speculate that nonverbal actions played a role in how formal language systems emerged from our primate ancestors over evolutionary time. Next, we hypothesize that if nonverbal behaviors played a foundational role in the emergence of language over evolution, these actions...

BACKGROUND Eating disorders are psychiatric illnesses with potentially life-threatening consequences. Inpatient treatment is typically required for the most severely ill patients, who are often emaciated or significantly malnourished. A core therapeutic objective is to normalize eating patterns and facilitate weight gain. These goals guide the efforts of milieu therapeutic staff working with th...