Designing Virtual Humans to Facilitate Learning: What Really Matters? by Dr. Noah Schroeder

Abstract: 
For the past twenty years researchers have incorporated virtual characters, including human-like representations known as virtual humans, into learning environments aiming to facilitate learning. Recently, the field has been revitalized as technologies incorporating virtual humans have become more common in everyday life. Researchers now often examine how to most effectively design virtual humans for different contexts. One of these lines of research focuses on how virtual humans are perceived by learners. Theorists suggest that how we perceive these characters can influence the learning process, but it is not yet known which perceptions matter. Our recent experimental work has shown that the existing measures commonly used by researchers to evaluate the construct of ‘agent persona’ are poor predictors of learning. This talk will focus on what virtual humans are, why they can be effective learning tools, and the findings of recent studies around the design of these systems.