RESEARCH
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RESEARCH
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CURRENT PROJECTS: Virtual Human museum guides (National Science Foundation): This work seeks to use virtual humans in informal settings to motivate and inspire children to learn more about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Working with the Boston Museum of Science (MOS), we built three virtual human museum guides. The first two are twins: Ada and Grace (shown above). They act as question/answer guides that can tell you about STEM, the museum, and themselves (including how they work!). Check them out on youtube (and the very cool behind the scenes video).  The third character is ICT's first cartoon character: Coach Mike. Inspired by the creator of an existing MOS exhibit called Robot Park, Coach Mike seeks to help young learners program a robot to solve fun challenges. He doesn't just teach, though, he seeks to promote engagement through the use of humor, empathy, and encouragement. In informal settings, learners can disengage at any time, and so the learner needs to be persuaded to stay - Coach Mike might be viewed as a salesperson for STEM. You can see images, animations, and sound if you want more! Situated Pedagogical Authoring (Dept. of the Army): In this (brand new) project, we seek to build tools that facilitate the development of intelligent tutoring support for virtual human based practice. Our approach is to author in the presence of the virtual human you are creating. So, imagine an author in the holodeck, creating a character, changing his/her behaviors on the fly, saying what is right and wrong, and providing hints and feedback that would help the eventual student. We're not quite ready with the holodeck yet, but we'll be doing it soon on your nearest PC. Virtual Sprouts (National Institutes of Health, SEPA):  This project (also new!) is focused on behavior change and nutrition education. The goal is to build a game-based environment that teaches the science of gardening and healthy eating habits. The tutoring group at ICT will design a pedagogical agent that will help the learner understand the game, the science of gardening, and how to select the best foods given one's eating goals. The agent will have a backstory and seek to convey the fun of learning just as Coach Mike. This project was inspired by The First Lady's Organic Garden and is a collaboration between the USC Keck School of Medicine, the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and Rossier School of Education, and ICT. Updates can be found on the Virtual Sprouts blog. Previous projects:
last updated: 7 Mar 2010 |