Socio-Cultural Effects of Virtual Counseling Interviewers as Mediated by Smartphone Video Conferencing

Abstract

We explored how users perceive virtual characters that performed the role of a counseling interviewer, while presenting different levels of social class, as well as single or multi-tasking behavior. To investigate this subject, we designed a 2x2 experiment (tasking type and social class of the virtual counseling interviewer). In the experiment, participants experienced the counseling interview interactions over video conferencing on a smartphone. We measured user responses to and perceptions of the virtual human interviewer. The results demonstrate that the tasking types and social class of the virtual counselor affected user responses to and perceptions of the virtual counselor. The results offer insight into the design and development of effective, realistic, and believable virtual human counselors. Furthermore, the results also address current social questions about how smartphones might mediate social interactions, including human-agent interactions.