Related papers: The EMPATHIC Project: Mid-term Achievements
A new concept and an online prototype of haptic BCI paradigm are presented. Our main goal is to develop a new, alternative and low cost paradigm, with open-source hardware and software components. We also report results obtained with the…
We propose a personalized chatbot designed for elderly individuals. The chatbot initiates discussions based on family photos, encouraging users to interact naturally. During these interactions, it generates W questions (who, where, when,…
Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) involves vividly imagining personal future events and experiences in detail. It has shown promise as an intervention to reduce delay discounting-the tendency to devalue delayed rewards in favor of immediate…
Recent advancements in eye tracking technology are driving the adoption of gaze-assisted interaction as a rich and accessible human-computer interaction paradigm. Gaze-assisted interaction serves as a contextual, non-invasive, and explicit…
Loneliness and social isolation are serious and widespread problems among older people, affecting their physical and mental health, quality of life, and longevity. In this paper, we propose a ChatGPT-based conversational companion system…
We conducted a qualitative co-design study with four adults aged 60+ to gather design insights on a Figma prototype and a generative AI (GenAI) chatbot for an app aimed at providing an AI coach to support older adults' physical activity.…
The development of embodied agents that can communicate with humans in natural language has gained increasing interest over the last years, as it facilitates the diffusion of robotic platforms in human-populated environments. As a step…
Cognitive assistance may be valuable in applications for doctors and therapists that reduce costs and improve quality in healthcare systems. Use cases and scenarios include the assessment of dementia. In this paper, we present our approach…
Artificial agents that support human group interactions hold great promise, especially in sensitive contexts such as well-being promotion and therapeutic interventions. However, current systems struggle to mediate group interactions…
Several changes occur in the brain in response to voluntary and involuntary activities performed by a person. The ability to retrieve data from the brain within a time space provides a basis for in-depth analyses that offer insight on what…
Most popular goal-oriented dialogue agents are capable of understanding the conversational context. However, with the surge of virtual assistants with screen, the next generation of agents are required to also understand screen context in…
Virtual assistants (VAs) have become ubiquitous in daily life, integrated into smartphones and smart devices, sparking interest in AI companions that enhance user experiences and foster emotional connections. However, existing companions…
The ActiveAI project addresses key challenges in AI education for grades 7-9 students by providing an engaging AI literacy learning experience based on the AI4K12 knowledge framework. Utilizing learning science mechanisms such as goal-based…
It may be difficult for some individuals to open up and share their thoughts and feelings in front of a mental health expert. For those who are more at ease with a virtual agent, conversational agents can serve as an intermediate step in…
Artificial agents capable of understanding and aligning with others' intentions are essential for safe and socially robust artificial intelligence. We introduce a computational framework for empathy in active inference agents, grounded in…
Voice based Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) promise to improve healthcare management and Quality of Life (QOL) by introducing the paradigm of hands free and eye free interactions. However, there has been little understanding regarding…
Older adults have been hit disproportionally hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. One critical way for older adults to minimize the negative impact of COVID-19 and future pandemics is to stay informed about its latest information, which has been…
Supporting practices around self-care is crucial for enabling older adults to continue living in their own homes and ageing in place. While existing assistive technology and research concerning self-care practices have been centered on a…
Since its inception in 2016, the Alexa Prize program has enabled hundreds of university students to explore and compete to develop conversational agents through the SocialBot Grand Challenge. The goal of the challenge is to build agents…
As the global population ages, many seniors face the problem of loneliness. Companion robots offer a potential solution. However, current companion robots often lack advanced functionality, while task-oriented robots are not designed for…