一般社団法人 電子情報通信学会
THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS,INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERS

信学技報
IEICE Technical Report

Restaurant-Guide Site Using Atmosphere Expressed by Abstract Characters－A Pilot Study to Investigate Perception of Atmosphere Using Characters －Masahide Yuasa†

andKousuke Nanba††Department of Applied Computer Sciences, Shonan Institute of Technology,
1-1-25, Tsujido-Nishikaigan, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, 251-8511, Japan
E-mail: yuasa@sc.shonan-it.ac.jp
Abstract In recent years, as use of the Internet has spread and the use of Web services has increased, websites ofrestaurant guides for gourmet dining have been developed. However, no guide has been developed that features a restaurant
atmosphere, even though people often choose a restaurant in anticipation that the atmosphere is conducive to intimacy andromance. Therefore, we propose a restaurant-guide site that shows images of restaurant ambiance using the body posture ofabstract characters. Our findings will be useful in investigating perceptions of the atmosphere created by characters.
Keywords Animated agent, Characters, Atmosphere engineering, Restaurant guidebody postures of abstract characters, which indicate the1. Introduction
Nowadays, because the widespread use of the Internet

actions of customers in a parti cular restaurant. We focus

has allowed people to access many types of Web services,on abstract characters that can express various expressions

gourmet-also[3, 4] and can express different conditions in a restaurant.

flourished. The guide helps people find the perfect

Body postures such as leaning forward/backward and therestaurant according to their desired conditions in terms oforientation of the abstract characters can portray a sense

cuisine, train station locations, and budget [1]. For

of intimacy, unity, and degree of communication in aexample, when a customer wants to have a party, he/sherestaurant. Customers can determine how close people are,can search for restaurants by inputting options for thewhat people clamor for, and how people enjoy thetypes of cuisines, alcohol, and features (buffet/ late-night

restaurant as portrayed by abstract characters. The abstract

dinners, etc.) according to his/her budget. Social network

charactersservices

restaurant.

andalsorestaurant-guideprovideservices

information

on

have

recommended

restaurants to an individual from information extracted
from their members. People can quickly and easily findthe best restaurant by using these guide services, even if
they have not visited the place yet.
However,

noservicethatatmosphere

isavailable.

Thus,

help

2. Proposal

customers

offindRestaurant

themostGuidesuitable

Showing

AtmosphereAs described earlier, we propose a restaurant guide thatuses abstract characters to convey how customers enjoy or

focusesonrestaurant

relax in the restaurant. We assume that the type ofassessaatmosphere is displayed among the search results after therestaurant atmosphere by viewing pictures of food and theoptions are input, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows anexterior and interior from restaurant guides. Photographs

example after a user inputs his or her options to the

do not convey sufficient information to project the entire

website. The system provides 12 restaurants in the searchatmosphere, and often, the atmosphere does not match

results, and the results display not only the page links but

customer expectations, resulting in disappointment. On

also the “atmosphere images” using abstract characters.

the other hand, people can simply read reviews orFromcomments in restaurant guides to determine the restaurant

understand the behavior of restaurant customers, theatmosphere [2]. However, online comments are quite

crowd situation, sense of intimacy, etc.

customers

theimages,peoplecanquicklyandeasily

unreliable. Several Web services provide options forMoreover, a sense of brightness can be illustrated by thecategories such as “romantic,” “cool,” or “serene.”

background color of these images. The example in theHowever,andfigure shows that “Washo Restaurant” has bright light, andspecifying the atmosphere created by peoples is difficult.

“ABC Restaurant” uses dim lighting. “ABC Restaurant” isTherefore, we propose a restaurant guide that expresses

sparse, whereas “123 Restaurant” is very crowded. In thethe atmosphere, such as easygoing or relaxed , using thebackground in “123 Restaurant,” a Raimon (thunderthesedescriptions

arevery

general,This article is a technical report without peer review, and its polished and/or extended version may be published elsewhere.
Copyright ©2017 by IEICEpattern) is displayed, which can be associated with ramen
service. Furthermore, customers can catch a sample of thespoken voices in the restaurant by clicking a sound button.
Thevoicescanbeeffectiveinunderstanding

theatmosphere.
In this manner, customers can quickly and easily learn
about the restaurant atmosphere. We assume that theextracted information (such as the abstract characters andsample sounds) is effective in expressing the relationship s
between people because they convey symbolic meanings
and easy comprehension. The proposed services will beenriched by adding other detailed features (nonverbalinformation

such

as

nodding,expressions).

Therefore,

blinking,investigating

and

an

facialapprop riate

expression to portray the atmosphere under a specificsituation is crucial.

Figure 1

Atmosphere presentation using abstract characters as

search results.

4. Discussion and Conclusions
We proposed a new restaurant-guide site that portrays
the restaurant atmosphere. This guide provides images for

3. Atmosphere Expression Using Characters

the atmosphere, which are portrayed by abstract characters.

3.1. Characters That Portray Atmosphere

The character images indicate how intimate people are andIn this study, we investigate the visual expressions ofwhat do people clamor. This service will h elp thecharacters that display the restaurant atmos phere as a firstwould-be customer find the most suitable restaurant. Fromstep. We aim to systematically investigate atmospherea study using abstract characters, the expressions wereexpressions. In addition, we do not take into account thefound to be useful in displaying the restaurant atmosphere.

types of customers (child or adult, male or female, etc.)

By adding factors that describe

and use only a simple abstract character. By focusing on

customer is able to find a suitable restaurant.

the atmosphere, aabstract expressions, we can determine the mechanism toReferences

identify the atmosphere. Abstract expression, which is[1] http://www.gnavi.co.jp/en/, accessed 8 May 2017.
[2] http://www.tripadvisor.com/, accessed 8 May 2017.
[3] H. Prendinger and M. Ishizuka, Life-Like Characters:
Tools, Affective Functions, and Applications,
Springer, 2004.
[4] K. Isbister, Better Game Characters by Design: APsychologicalApproach,MorganKaufmann
Publishers Inc., 2006.
[5] G. Johansson, “Visual perception of biologicalmotion and a model for its analysis ,” Percept.
Psychophys, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 201 –211, 1973.
[6] T. Koda and P. Maes, “Agents with faces: The effectsof personification of agents,” 1996.
[7] M. Yuasa, K. Saito, and N. Mukawa, “Brain activity
associated with graphic emoticons,” ElectricalEngineering in Japan, vol. 177, no. 3, 2011 .
[8] M. Yuasa et al., “An utterance attitude model inhuman-agent communication,” CHI2010 Extended
Abstracts, ACM, 2010.

typified by biological motion [5], is a representation
extracted from the surface , and reflects the essence.
However, expressions are easily recognized by hu mans,
andabstract

Furthermore,charactersdesigningareeye-catching[6,7].

abstractcharacters

isveryeffective in developing effective characters with wide
applicability across multiple cases [8] in computers. In thepresent study, we use abstract characters and investigate
the human ability to perceive an atmosphere consisting ofhumans and their activities.

3.2. Factors Composing the AtmosphereTo

study

therelationshipbetweenthetypes

ofatmosphere and their matching expressions, we need toidentify the atmosphere category of a restaurant. We
requested volunteers to collect information of restaurantsthat they like, and to categorize them into several factors
thatdescribe

theatmospherethroughmappinganddiscussions. Based on the category, we will conduct a
preliminary experiment that confirms which abstract
character

expressions

atmosphere.

areeffectivein

definingthe