Are We Generalizing from the Exception? An In-the-Wild Study on Group-Sensitive Conversation Design in Human-Agent Interactions
Müller A, Jeschke S, Richert A (2025)
Publication Type: Conference contribution
Publication year: 2025
Publisher: IEEE Computer Society
Pages Range: 1974-1979
Conference Proceedings Title: IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Communication, RO-MAN
Event location: Hybrid, Eindhoven, NLD
ISBN: 9798331587710
DOI: 10.1109/RO-MAN63969.2025.11217533
Abstract
This paper investigates the impact of a group-adaptive conversation design in two socially interactive agents (SIAs) through two real-world studies. Both SIAs - Furhat, a social robot, and MetaHuman, a virtual agent - were equipped with a conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) backend combining hybrid retrieval and generative models. The studies were carried out in an in-the-wild setting with a total of N = 188 participants who interacted with the SIAs - in dyads, triads or larger groups - at a German museum. Although the results did not reveal a significant effect of the group-sensitive conversation design on perceived satisfaction, the findings provide valuable insights into the challenges of adapting CAI for multi-party interactions and across different embodiments (robot vs. virtual agent) highlighting the need for multimodal strategies beyond linguistic pluralization. These insights contribute to the fields of Human-Agent Interaction (HAI), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and broader Human-Machine Interaction (HMI), providing insights for future research on effective dialogue adaptation in group settings.
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Müller, A., Jeschke, S., & Richert, A. (2025). Are We Generalizing from the Exception? An In-the-Wild Study on Group-Sensitive Conversation Design in Human-Agent Interactions. In IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Communication, RO-MAN (pp. 1974-1979). Hybrid, Eindhoven, NLD: IEEE Computer Society.
MLA:
Müller, Ana, Sabina Jeschke, and Anja Richert. "Are We Generalizing from the Exception? An In-the-Wild Study on Group-Sensitive Conversation Design in Human-Agent Interactions." Proceedings of the 34th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2025, Hybrid, Eindhoven, NLD IEEE Computer Society, 2025. 1974-1979.
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