Presentation at SALT conference on March 7th of 2013. Sustaining users’ attention while they interact with an online application, or when they interact with an e-learning training course, is an important technique that can directly impact the corporate bottom line and the organization's potential for learning. Maintaining attention plays a key role in the design of future learning technologies. This presentation will describe how e-learning modules using avatars may be designed to focus avatar reactions to sustain end-users’ attention states, and how avatar interactions can be designed to create behaviors to encourage end users to participate actively in collaboration platforms and e-learning modules. A description and definition of avatars and when avatars are most efficient for e-learning will be provided. Case studies of uses of avatars for corporate training will be discussed. Each case study presented will focus on one of the four main features of avatars: visual appearance, gestures & behaviors, voice, and interaction between the avatar and the environment. Finally, current avatar research directions will be provided.

1. MAXIMIZING THE USE OF AVATARS
TO MAINTAIN YOUR LEARNERS’ ATTENTION
www.livingactor.com

2. Presentation Outline
• A Few Words About Me
• Why an Avatar in e-learning?
• Case Study: Le Louvre Museum Avatar
• Four Avatar Features that Maintain User Attention
• Conclusion

3. My Background
The Author
• Audio Producer at Radio France
• 3D Artist in Video Game Industry
• Inventor and Patent Holder of Living Actor™
• CEO and President of the company Cantoche
Book Contributions:
• Agent Culture published by Lawrence Erlbaum in 2004 (chapter "Recruiting a Virtual
Employee: Adaptive and Personalized Agents in Corporate Communication")
• Human Attention in Digital Environments published by Cambridge University Press in 2011
(chapter "Attention-Aware Intelligent Embodied Agents”).
The Company and Living Actor™ Technology
• Expert in 3D Full Body Avatars (700 customized avatars created)
• More than 300 international clients
• Creator of the technology Living Actor™ (www.livingactor.com)
Related R&D Projects:
• Ilhaire: Incorporating laughter into Human-Avatar interactions.
• Humaine: Enabling emotions for Embodied Conversational Agents.
• AtGentive: Keeping the attention of the user (short term and long term) on e-Learning
applications using avatars.
• Affective Avatars: Analyzing emotions in user’s voices and mapping the avatar’s behaviors
in real time for web and mobile applications.

4. Why an Avatar?
Avatars can maintain user attention on an e-learning application
Interactions among human beings are made of emotions and memories
The way people interact with technology is the way they interact with each other. (R. Picard, 1995)
Humanization encourages the interaction
The more the interface is humanized, the more the subjects persist in resolving the
exercises which are difficult and/or impossible to finish.(Dubois, 2001)
The interaction is judged by the learner as more "natural" and "emotion-rich"
Characters can express social roles, emotions, and organized personalities that
match learning goals, company brands, and transaction needs. (Reeves, 2003)
Avatars allow humanization of the interfaces for memory recall and task
attention
An avatar integrated in the user interface creates in the user the illusion to be interacting
with the system as if he were communicating with a real person. (Ortiz, 2006)

5. E-learning Case Studies
3 examples of classic types of e-learning modules
Interactive Coach Simulations Personalized Tutors
“Prof à la demande “for SFR
on mobile phone
Mme Michalon (Grumpy)
•Inflexible
Melle Jeunet (Joly)
E-learning modules for SAINT-GOBAIN E-learning modules for DEMOS using 100 avatars •Calm and patient
Bernard (Free-style)
•The good friend

6. Building the Avatar’s Persona
The avatar is characterized by 5 primary social cues
Five primary type of social cues cause people to make inferences about social presence in a
computing product: Physical, Psychological, language, social dynamics, and social roles
(Fogg, 2003)
Main Questions to Ask
1. What is the mission of the avatar?
2. Who does the avatar represents?
3. What is the personality of the Avatar?
4. How does the avatar interact with the user? (language, turn taking, application)
Data Collection Recommendation
• Visual Representation
The 4 Main Features
• Behaviors
• Voice
• Interactions with the environment

7. Case Study
Dominique Vivant- Denon on the Le Louvre Web Site
For young Web users, Dominique Vivant-Denon embodies the first director of Le Louvre museum
and guides them on the site. The avatar encourages them to be curious and teaches them about the
Museum and its art collection.
• Designed by François Place in 2007.
• Animated and empowered using the Living Actor™ technology www.livingactor.com

8. The Visual Appearance
The avatar is characterized by its appearance
The first impression immediately determines the way users will interact with an avatar and the
application (Gard, 2000)
Main Features to Combine
• Style (Cartoon, Realistic)
• Gender
• Culture
• Colors
• Clothes
• Accessories

9. The Visual Appearance, Cont.
Dominique Vivant-Denon
Main Visual Aspects
• Cartoonish Style: He represents the first director of Le Louvre museum
• Blue Color: This color was intended to be calming
• Use accessories: Helps users to understand an action

10. The Behavior
Behaviors and Emotions
Body movement comprises 55 per cent of non verbal communication (Merhabian, 1971)
Main Features to Combine
• Facial Expressions
• Gaze
• Body Language
• Behavior Rhythm
Ilhaire Project: www.ilhaire.eu

11. The Behavior, Cont.
Dominique Vivant-Denon
Main Behavioral Aspects
• Very dynamic: contrasts with the calm nature of a museum
• Uses Full Body to drive interest
• Doesn’t use a lot of facial expressions: He is neutral as a guide

12. The Voice
Vocal parameters give the user confidence in the avatar and give the
avatar persuasive power
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it (Dimitrius, 1998)
Main Features to play with
• The tone of Voice is important to indicating whether the avatatar is depressed, happy,
anxious, excited, or something else.
• By changing the frequency of the voice, you can change the confidence and the
attention of user.
• The vocal rhythm is an important aspect to create a dominant or submissive character.

13. User-Avatar-Environment Interaction
Dominique Vivant-Denon
Main components in user-avatar-environment interaction
• Uses the entire space
• Has his own space
• Interacts with the Web site
• Suggests actions to the user

14. User-Avatar-Environment Interaction, Cont.
The avatar interacts with its environment
Main Features to Combine
• Size of the Avatar
• Shots
• Position
• Presence or absence
• Angle of view
• Avatar Interactions
Sybron Dental e-learning module
http://blog.livingactor.com/?p=1087
Gaz de France living actor assistant
Http: www.livingactor.com

15. Thank You!
More Information…
blog.livingactor.com: A Blog Dedicated to Talking Assistants
www.ilhaire.eu: Incorporating laughter into Human-Avatar interactions.
www.livingactor.com: Living Actor™ 15-day Free Trial
www.livingactor.com
Benoît MOREL
CEO and President