Facilitating Creative Cognition by Embodied Conversational Agents

Abstract

The study investigated the use of collaborative embodied conversational agents in the facilitation of creative cognition. Based on preliminary studies, two factors were investigated through an experimental design addressing the number of conversational agents (single vs. dual), and method of communication (voice vs. text). 18 participants engaged in a simple interpretation game with embodied conversational agents. Role-playing embodied conversational agents made suggestions on the quality of the participant's interpretations. The study focused on how the two factors enhanced the quality of cognitive process during interactive activities with the agent. Analysis showed that the synergy created by the use of multiple agents along with a voice communication enhanced the cognitive process for the quality of creative interpretations. These results suggest that the number of agents and the method of communication are important factors in designing effective embodied conversational agents in creative activities.