Reference number : GC-2017-Q4-00483, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : DiPaola, Steve (Simon Fraser University), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : British Columbia|Colombie-Britannique, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Grants for universities, program name french : Subventions d'engagement partenarial pour les universités, program purpose english : The growing success of dialogue systems research makes embodied conversational agents a perfect candidate_x000D_
for becoming a standard in human computer interaction including for health related coaching and assistance in_x000D_
group conversation. The naturalness of communicative acts allows for providing a comfortable ground for the_x000D_
users to interact with. There have been many advances on using multiple communication channels in dialogue_x000D_
systems in the way of simulating humaneness in an artificial agent. The proposed research program will study_x000D_
human behavior while interacting with these assistive technologies using natural interaction methods in order_x000D_
to create an Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA) that enables users to efficiently achieve their goals through_x000D_
simply talking with the ECA and receiving answers from it. We aim to build an Intelligent Virtual Agent_x000D_
(IVA), which automatically intervenes at the right time and provides content and information to the user based_x000D_
on user's condition and interest models. The proposed research will develop new theories, models, algorithms,_x000D_
and technologies to make it easier for users to interact more naturally with less cognitive effort. This work will_x000D_
also improve the fundamental understanding of how such systems affect humans. Highly qualified personnel_x000D_
(HQP) will be trained in artificial intelligence (AI) and human computer interaction (HCI), particularly in_x000D_
natural interaction models. Within social health platforms using say social media groups to help like minded_x000D_
users with a related health problem, one big challenge is there are many health conditions, so it is not feasible_x000D_
to build and develop community and services for every one of these conditions manually. The solution would_x000D_
be to develop an AI personalized platform which provide scalable, sustainable and automated services and_x000D_
strategies. Therefore, this research effort is to build a prototype of a personalized intelligent virtual companion_x000D_
(Agent) that will collect information about the user via conversations, build a user model and will interact with_x000D_
the user in a specific and customized way via conversation which provides personalized coaching, training and_x000D_
assistance., program purpose french : The growing success of dialogue systems research makes embodied conversational agents a perfect candidate_x000D_
for becoming a standard in human computer interaction including for health related coaching and assistance in_x000D_
group conversation. The naturalness of communicative acts allows for providing a comfortable ground for the_x000D_
users to interact with. There have been many advances on using multiple communication channels in dialogue_x000D_
systems in the way of simulating humaneness in an artificial agent. The proposed research program will study_x000D_
human behavior while interacting with these assistive technologies using natural interaction methods in order_x000D_
to create an Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA) that enables users to efficiently achieve their goals through_x000D_
simply talking with the ECA and receiving answers from it. We aim to build an Intelligent Virtual Agent_x000D_
(IVA), which automatically intervenes at the right time and provides content and information to the user based_x000D_
on user's condition and interest models. The proposed research will develop new theories, models, algorithms,_x000D_
and technologies to make it easier for users to interact more naturally with less cognitive effort. This work will_x000D_
also improve the fundamental understanding of how such systems affect humans. Highly qualified personnel_x000D_
(HQP) will be trained in artificial intelligence (AI) and human computer interaction (HCI), particularly in_x000D_
natural interaction models. Within social health platforms using say social media groups to help like minded_x000D_
users with a related health problem, one big challenge is there are many health conditions, so it is not feasible_x000D_
to build and develop community and services for every one of these conditions manually. The solution would_x000D_
be to develop an AI personalized platform which provide scalable, sustainable and automated services and_x000D_
strategies. Therefore, this research effort is to build a prototype of a personalized intelligent virtual companion_x000D_
(Agent) that will collect information about the user via conversations, build a user model and will interact with_x000D_
the user in a specific and customized way via conversation which provides personalized coaching, training and_x000D_
assistance., agreement title english : Communication and interaction design for chronic health situations, agreement title french : Communication and interaction design for chronic health situations, agreement number : EGP, agreement value : 24992.0, agreement start date : 2018-03-07, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)., additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019)., owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada