Virtual Teachers and Virtual Therapists An Emerging Reality

"Virtual Teachers and Virtual Therapists An Emerging Reality"Ron Cole
Center for Spoken Language Research
University of Colorado at Boulder AbstractIn March 2005 in Hanover Germany over 500,000 people attended Cebit, the world's largest technology trade show, to view the latest technology marvels. Germany's Siemens AG unveiled its new Animated Instant Voice Messages, in hopes of transforming text messages from boring print to a more interactive experience. "According to an Associated Press Report, "The program converts the text in a wireless message into speech that can be synchronized to play with moving animated lips superimposed on one of the user's own photographs. European users will get the first chance to see it, likely later this year." So I will soon be to call your cell phone, leave a message, and my pretty face will appear on the screen of your cell phone to say it. In the next five years, we can expect ever more sophisticated and engaging talking heads to appear in computer programs, on Web sites, handheld devices and cell phones. As speech recognition, semantic parsing and character animation technologies improve, along with processors, displays and networks, talking heads will become more common and believable, producing automatically, from speech and/or text, head movements, facial expressions and visual accurate visual speech that is consistent with the meaning and emotional content of typed or spoken messages.
At the Center for Spoken Language Research, my colleagues and I are developing computer programs with 3-D talking heads that are being used to teach children to read and learn from text, and to help individuals with Parkinson disease or aphasia to improve their speech communication skills. While these programs are quite different in terms of the nature of the interaction between the virtual human and the student or patient, each requires understanding and modeling the behaviors of a human expert who is sensitive and effective in their area of expertise. My talk will demonstrate and describe these systems. For both the virtual reading tutor and virtual speech therapist, I will present the theoretical and scientific rationale for the system, a participatory design process that aims to optimize user experiences and treatment outcomes, and challenges that need to be addressed to create next generation systems.BiographyProfessor Ron Cole is Director and Founder of the Center for Spoken Language Research at the University of Colorado Boulder. Date: May 5, 2005 (Thursday)
Time: 10:00 am
Location: EEB 248
Host: Shri Narayanan, EE-Systems (SIPI)
Contact: shri@sipi.usc.edu (x 06432)

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Regina Morton