Affective effects of agent proximity in conversational systems

The aim of this study was to investigate, if the simulated proximity level of an anthropomorphic conversational agent and the affective contents in the agent's speech influence the subjects' affective experiences. Eight subjects were exposed to messages given by the agent using synthetic speech. The agent character's simulated proximity level (intimate, personal, social, and public) and the affective contents of the speech message (negative, neutral, and positive) were systematically varied in the experiment. The proximity levels were simulated by displaying the agent on a screen in different sizes. After each speech message, the subjects rated their affective experience on four scales: valence, arousal, dominance, and message intimacy. They also chose a preferred agent proximity level. The results showed that by manipulating the agent's simulated proximity level, experienced dominance could be significantly influenced. Further, by manipulating the affective contents of the speech, experienced valence and intimacy could be significantly influenced. The personal and social proximity levels were preferred by the subjects.