Virtual Convention Center: A Socially Emotional Online/VR Conference Platform

A cognitive model, producing believable socially emotional behavior, is used to control the Virtual Actor behavior in an online scientific conference paradigm. For this purpose, a videogame-like platform is developed, in which Virtual Actors are embedded as poster presenters, receptionists, etc. The expectation is that the combination of somatic factors, moral appraisals and rational values in one model has the potential to make behavior of a virtual actor more believable, humanlike and socially acceptable. Implications concern future intelligent cobots and virtual assistants, particularly, in online conferencing and distance learning platforms and in intelligent tutoring systems.