SAL Sensitive Artificial Listener Emotion induction technique developed

SAL (Sensitive Artificial Listener) Emotion induction technique developed at QUB

SAL (Objective) • To capture a broad spectrum of day to day emotional states, expressed in ‘emotionally coloured discourse’ of the type likely to be displayed in everyday conversation • SAL simulates what some interviewers and good listeners do – engages a willing person in emotionally coloured interaction on the basis of stock lines keyed in a broad way to the speaker’s emotions

Core approach • SAL stands for ‘Sensitive Artificial Listener’ • SAL modelled on an ELIZA scenario (see Weizenbaum 1996) • User interacts or ‘converses’ with a computer simulation consisting of four characters

How? • The SAL presents four characters equipped with a set of characteristic responses encouraging the user into responding in differing emotional states: – ‘Poppy’ is optimistic and outgoing – ‘Spike’ is confrontational and argumentative – ‘Prudence’ is pragmatic and practical – ‘Obadiah’ is depressing and gloomy

How? • Each character tries to pull the user towards his/her own emotional state • The SAL has no intelligence, only prespecified stock responses

Context in which SAL developed • SAL started as part of the ERMIS project (http: //manolito. image. ece. ntua. gr/ermis/) • Intended as both an induction technique and as a testbed • ERMIS will use SAL to demonstrate prototype system • WP 5 using SAL simply as an induction technique

SAL: the character scripts • Developed, tested & refined in an iterative way • Each character has different types of script depending on emotional state of the user – E. g. Poppy has script for user in each of four emotional states - positive active, negative active, positive passive, negative passive – E. g. Script types relevant to the part of conversation (beginning, main part) or structural state of conversation (repair script)

SAL: the character scripts • Each script type has range of statements and questions – not context specific as no ‘intelligence’ involved – many are clichés such as ‘Always look on the bright side of things’ (Poppy) or fillers such as ‘Really’ or prompts to keep the conversation going ‘Tell me more’

SAL: instructions for users • Users introduced to the system via a standard script – personalities of the characters explained – advised that they can request to change character – asked to select the character they would like to interact with first – users requested to relax and to try to engage the system in a ‘game’ spirit and to use it as an emotional gym

Current version of SAL • Does not have a ‘working’ computer interface • Role of computer acted by the operator (with appropriate tones of voice for each character) • Operator is in same room as the user • Operator makes decision on state of the user and selects appropriate script type • Current version tested on six users • Listeners learn to ‘use’ the system suggesting that longitudinal use by small numbers may be preferable to occasional use by many

SAL: development needed • Work is in hand to develop more automated versions of the system • The first step is Wizard of Oz situation, • Scripts have been recorded for each computer character as. wav files - operator will play these through the user’s computer • Appropriate visual image on screen needed to match personality of computer character • Full computer control is technically possible, but evaluations suggest that achieving that raises non-trivial issues