Talking to a pedagogical agent in a smart TV: modality matching effect in human-TV interaction

ABSTRACT

The current study examined how voice control and a virtual agent in a smart TV interplay in influencing users’ evaluation of the TV. In a 2 (input modality: voice control vs. remote controller) X 2(agent type: realistic vs. cartoonlike agent) between-subjects experiment, participants (N = 64) used and evaluated a smart TV in an educational context. Results revealed negative effects of voice control, especially when it accompanied a cartoonlike agent. Those who used the voice control to the cartoonlike agent rated the agentless humanlike, attractive, intelligent and intimate than did those who used the remote controller to the cartoonlike agent. Also, those who used voice control reported that watching the TV was less involving and enjoyable than those who used the remote controller. The negative effects were mitigated, however, when they interacted with a realistic agent. These results suggest the importance of the matching between input modality and visual interface to reduce potential negative effects.

KEYWORDS:

• Smart TV
• voice control
• embodied agent
• modality matching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korean Government [grant number NRF-2017S1A3A2066149].