Virtual Safety Assistant: An Efficient Tool for Ensuring Safety During Covid-19 Pandemic

Using intelligent virtual assistants for controlling employee population in workspaces is a research area that remains unexplored. This paper presents a novel application of virtual humans to enforce Covid-19 safety measures in a corporate workplace. For this purpose, we develop a virtual assistant platform, Chloe, equipped with automatic temperature sensing, facial recognition, and dedicated chatbots to act as an initial filter for ensuring public health. Whilst providing an engaging user interaction experience, Chloe minimizes human to human contact, thus reducing the spread of infectious diseases. Chloe restricts the employee population within the office to government-approved safety norms. We experimented with Chloe as a virtual safety assistant in a company, where she interacted and screened the employees for Covid-19 symptoms. Participants filled an online survey to quantify Chloe’s performance in terms of interactivity, system latency, engagement, and accuracy, for which we received positive feedback. We performed statistical analysis on the survey results that reveal positive results and show effectiveness of Chloe in such applications. We detail system architecture, results and limitations. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Support of Virtual Human Interactions Based on Facial Emotion Recognition Software

Emotion recognition based on facial expressions is an increasingly important area in Human-Computer Interaction Research. Despite the many challenges of computer-based facial emotion recognition like, e.g., the huge variability of human facial features, cultural differences, and the differentiation between primary and secondary emotions, there are more and more systems and approaches focusing on facial emotion recognition. These technologies already offer many possibilities to automatically recognize human emotions. As part of a research project described in this paper, these technologies are used to investigate whether and how they can support virtual human interactions. More and more meetings are taking place virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the advancing digitalization. Therefore, the face of the attendees is often the only visible part that indicates emotional states. This paper focuses on outlining why emotions and their recognition are important and in which areas the use of automated emotion detection tools seems to be promising. We do so by showing potential use cases for visual emotion recognition in the professional environment. In a nutshell, the research project aims to investigate whether facial emotion recognition software can help to improve self-reflection on emotions and the quality and experience of virtual human interactions. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Supporting Sign Language Narrations in the Museum

The accessibility of Cultural Heritage content for the diverse user population visiting Cultural Heritage Institutions and accessing content online has not been thoroughly discussed. Considering the penetration of new digital media in such physical and virtual spaces, lack of accessibility may result in the exclusion of a large user population. To overcome such emerging barriers, this paper proposes a cost-effective methodology for the implementation of Virtual Humans, which are capable of narrating content in a universally accessible form and acting as virtual storytellers in the context of online and on-site CH experiences. The methodology is rooted in advances in motion capture technologies and Virtual Human implementation, animation, and multi-device rendering. This methodology is employed in the context of a museum installation at the Chios Mastic Museum where VHs are presenting the industrial process of mastic processing for chewing gum production.

Innovative Virtual Role Play Simulations for Managing Substance Use Conversations: Pilot Study Results and Relevance During and After COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Substance use places a substantial burden on our communities, both economically and socially. In light of COVID-19, it is predicted that as many as 75,000 more people will die from alcohol and other substance use and suicide as a result of isolation, new mental health concerns, and various other stressors related to the pandemic. Public awareness campaigns that aim to destigmatize substance use and help individuals have meaningful conversations with friends, coworkers, or family members to address substance use concerns are a timely and cost-effective means of augmenting existing behavioral health efforts related to substance use. These types of interventions can supplement the work being done by existing public health initiatives. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study examines the impact of the One Degree: Shift the Influence role play simulation, designed to teach family, friends, and coworkers to effectively manage problem-solving conversations with individuals that they are concerned about regarding substance use. METHODS: Participants recruited for this mixed methods study completed a presurvey, the simulation, and a postsurvey, and were sent a 6-week follow-up survey. The simulation involves practicing a role play conversation with a virtual human coded with emotions, a memory, and a personality. A virtual coach provides feedback in using evidence-based communication strategies such as motivational interviewing. RESULTS: A matched sample analysis of variance revealed significant increases at follow-up in composite attitudinal constructs of preparedness (P<.001) and self-efficacy (P=.01), including starting a conversation with someone regarding substance use, avoiding upsetting someone while bringing up concerns, focusing on observable facts, and problem solving. Qualitative data provided further evidence of the simulation's positive impact on the ability to have meaningful conversations about substance use. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that conversation-based simulations like One Degree: Shift the Influence that use role play practice can teach individuals to use evidence-based communication strategies and can cost-effectively reach geographically dispersed populations to support public health initiatives for primary prevention.