Evaluating the impact of ECAs on user navigation performance and perception
Ioannis Doumanis, Serengul Smith · Middlesex University Research Repository (Middlesex University Of London) · 2013
The paper presents a user study designed to examine the impact of the presence of a multimodal ECA on the user’s ability to navigate routes of different complexity. The study was conducted in the lab, using high resolution video clips representing two routes in an archaeological attraction. The routes differed both in terms of navigation complexity and length. Participants interacted with an ECA-based system and then with a non-ECA system that provided navigation instructions based on photographs of landmarks. Results indicate that although an ECA does not enhance the participant’s performance in navigating routes of varying difficulty, participants perceived it as more useful in helping them to decide where to go, than the system without the ECA.