Extending the media equation to emotions: an approach for assessing realistic emotional characters

Computer-based simulation has demonstrated effectiveness for medical training (Anolli, Vescovo, Agliati, Mantovani, & Zurloni, 2006). These types of simulation have used emotional animated characters. Even though emotions have a strong influence on human-human interactions (Gratch, Mao, & Marsella, 2006), typical system evaluation does not assess how the emotional display is perceived by observers. In medical interview training such animated characters would have to be perceived as social and emotional partners so that trainees would be confronted with situations comparable to real life ones. However, it is not known how appropriate the perception to a realistic emotional animated character is. Using a similar approach as the one proposed by Nass et al in their work on the Media Equation (Nass & Moon, 2000), this paper proposes a research method for assessing the interpretation of an emotional animated character.