AHCI RESEARCH GROUP
Publications
Papers published in international journals,
proceedings of conferences, workshops and books.
OUR RESEARCH
Scientific Publications
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Here you can find the complete list of our publications.
You can use the tag cloud to select only the papers dealing with specific research topics.
You can expand the Abstract, Links and BibTex record for each paper.
You can use the tag cloud to select only the papers dealing with specific research topics.
You can expand the Abstract, Links and BibTex record for each paper.
2025
Koizumi, M.; Ohsuga, M.; Corchado, J. M.
Development and Assessment of a System to Help Students Improve Self-compassion Proceedings Article
In: R., Chinthaginjala; P., Sitek; N., Min-Allah; K., Matsui; S., Ossowski; S., Rodríguez (Ed.): Lect. Notes Networks Syst., pp. 43–52, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025, ISBN: 23673370 (ISSN); 978-303182072-4 (ISBN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Avatar, Generative adversarial networks, Generative AI, Health issues, Mental health, Self-compassion, Students, Training program, University students, Virtual avatar, Virtual environments, Virtual Reality, Virtual Space, Virtual spaces, Visual imagery
@inproceedings{koizumi_development_2025,
title = {Development and Assessment of a System to Help Students Improve Self-compassion},
author = {M. Koizumi and M. Ohsuga and J. M. Corchado},
editor = {Chinthaginjala R. and Sitek P. and Min-Allah N. and Matsui K. and Ossowski S. and Rodríguez S.},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85218979175&doi=10.1007%2f978-3-031-82073-1_5&partnerID=40&md5=b136d4a114ce5acfa89f907ccecc145f},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-82073-1_5},
isbn = {23673370 (ISSN); 978-303182072-4 (ISBN)},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-01-01},
booktitle = {Lect. Notes Networks Syst.},
volume = {1259},
pages = {43–52},
publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH},
abstract = {Mental health issues are becoming more prevalent among university students. The mindful self-compassion (MSC) training program, which was introduced to address this issue, has shown some efficacy. However, many people, particularly Japanese people, have difficulty recalling visual imagery or feel uncomfortable or resistant to treating themselves with compassion. This study proposes and develops a system that uses virtual space and avatars to help individuals improve their self-compassion. In the proposed system, the user first selects an avatar of a person with whom to talk (hereafter referred to as “partner”), and then talks about the problem to the avatar of his/her choice. Next, the user changes viewpoints and listens to the problem as the partner’s avatar and responds with compassion. Finally, the user returns to his/her own avatar and listens to the compassionate response spoken as the partner avatar. We first conducted surveys to understand the important system components, and then developed prototypes. In light of the results of the experiments, we improved the prototype by introducing a generative AI. The first prototype used the user’s spoken voice as it was, but the improved system uses the generative AI to organize and convert the voice and present it. In addition, we added a function to generate and add advice with compression. The proposed system is expected to contribute to the improvement of students’ self-compassion. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.},
keywords = {Avatar, Generative adversarial networks, Generative AI, Health issues, Mental health, Self-compassion, Students, Training program, University students, Virtual avatar, Virtual environments, Virtual Reality, Virtual Space, Virtual spaces, Visual imagery},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Mental health issues are becoming more prevalent among university students. The mindful self-compassion (MSC) training program, which was introduced to address this issue, has shown some efficacy. However, many people, particularly Japanese people, have difficulty recalling visual imagery or feel uncomfortable or resistant to treating themselves with compassion. This study proposes and develops a system that uses virtual space and avatars to help individuals improve their self-compassion. In the proposed system, the user first selects an avatar of a person with whom to talk (hereafter referred to as “partner”), and then talks about the problem to the avatar of his/her choice. Next, the user changes viewpoints and listens to the problem as the partner’s avatar and responds with compassion. Finally, the user returns to his/her own avatar and listens to the compassionate response spoken as the partner avatar. We first conducted surveys to understand the important system components, and then developed prototypes. In light of the results of the experiments, we improved the prototype by introducing a generative AI. The first prototype used the user’s spoken voice as it was, but the improved system uses the generative AI to organize and convert the voice and present it. In addition, we added a function to generate and add advice with compression. The proposed system is expected to contribute to the improvement of students’ self-compassion. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.
2024
Bayat, R.; Maio, E. De; Fiorenza, J.; Migliorini, M.; Lamberti, F.
Exploring Methodologies to Create a Unified VR User-Experience in the Field of Virtual Museum Experiences Proceedings Article
In: IEEE Gaming, Entertain., Media Conf., GEM, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2024, ISBN: 979-835037453-7 (ISBN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Cultural heritages, Meta-museum, Meta-museums, Metaverse, Metaverses, Research frontiers, Research opportunities, user experience, User experience design, User interfaces, User-Experience Design, Users' experiences, Virtual avatar, Virtual machine, Virtual museum, Virtual Reality, Virtual reality experiences
@inproceedings{bayat_exploring_2024,
title = {Exploring Methodologies to Create a Unified VR User-Experience in the Field of Virtual Museum Experiences},
author = {R. Bayat and E. De Maio and J. Fiorenza and M. Migliorini and F. Lamberti},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85199517817&doi=10.1109%2fGEM61861.2024.10585452&partnerID=40&md5=203c7b426a11144acc7a2fedbbac6a98},
doi = {10.1109/GEM61861.2024.10585452},
isbn = {979-835037453-7 (ISBN)},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
booktitle = {IEEE Gaming, Entertain., Media Conf., GEM},
publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.},
abstract = {The emergence of Virtual Reality (VR) and meta-verse have opened doors to new research opportunities and frontiers in User Experience (UX). Within the cultural heritage domain, one of the key concepts is that of the Virtual Museums (VMs), whose definition has been extended through time by many research works and applications. However, most of the studies performed so far focused on only one application, and studied its UX without taking into account the experience with other VR experiences possibly available in the VM. The purpose of this work is to give a contribution for an optimal design to create a unified UX across multiple VR experiences. More specifically, the research included the development of two applications, respectively a VM in a metaverse platform and a virtual learning workshop as an individual application. With this premise, the study will also consider two fundamental elements for an effective UX design: a Virtual Environment (VE) and an Intelligent Virtual Avatar (IVA). In particular, the latest was developed following current trends about generative AI, integrating an IVA powered by a Large Language Model (LLM). © 2024 IEEE.},
keywords = {Cultural heritages, Meta-museum, Meta-museums, Metaverse, Metaverses, Research frontiers, Research opportunities, user experience, User experience design, User interfaces, User-Experience Design, Users' experiences, Virtual avatar, Virtual machine, Virtual museum, Virtual Reality, Virtual reality experiences},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The emergence of Virtual Reality (VR) and meta-verse have opened doors to new research opportunities and frontiers in User Experience (UX). Within the cultural heritage domain, one of the key concepts is that of the Virtual Museums (VMs), whose definition has been extended through time by many research works and applications. However, most of the studies performed so far focused on only one application, and studied its UX without taking into account the experience with other VR experiences possibly available in the VM. The purpose of this work is to give a contribution for an optimal design to create a unified UX across multiple VR experiences. More specifically, the research included the development of two applications, respectively a VM in a metaverse platform and a virtual learning workshop as an individual application. With this premise, the study will also consider two fundamental elements for an effective UX design: a Virtual Environment (VE) and an Intelligent Virtual Avatar (IVA). In particular, the latest was developed following current trends about generative AI, integrating an IVA powered by a Large Language Model (LLM). © 2024 IEEE.
Leong, C. W.; Jawahar, N.; Basheerabad, V.; Wörtwein, T.; Emerson, A.; Sivan, G.
Combining Generative and Discriminative AI for High-Stakes Interview Practice Proceedings Article
In: ACM Int. Conf. Proc. Ser., pp. 94–96, Association for Computing Machinery, 2024, ISBN: 979-840070463-5 (ISBN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: AI systems, College admissions, Continuous improvements, End to end, Interactive computer graphics, Interactive dialog system, interactive dialogue systems, Language Model, Modeling languages, Multi-modal, Multimodal computing, Video interview, video interviews, Virtual avatar, Virtual environments, Virtual Reality
@inproceedings{leong_combining_2024,
title = {Combining Generative and Discriminative AI for High-Stakes Interview Practice},
author = {C. W. Leong and N. Jawahar and V. Basheerabad and T. Wörtwein and A. Emerson and G. Sivan},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85211135262&doi=10.1145%2f3686215.3688377&partnerID=40&md5=4f53f4466d43840510a36c125eeefa16},
doi = {10.1145/3686215.3688377},
isbn = {979-840070463-5 (ISBN)},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
booktitle = {ACM Int. Conf. Proc. Ser.},
pages = {94–96},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
abstract = {We present a demo comprising an end-to-end AI pipeline for practicing video interviews for a high-stakes scenarios (i.e., college admissions) with personalized, actionable feedback for continuous improvement of the user. This system provides personalized, actionable feedback for continuous user improvement. Utilizing large language models (LLMs), we generate questions and responses for a virtual avatar interviewer. Our focus on key qualities - such as concise responses with low latency, empathy, and smooth topic navigation - led to a comparative evaluation of several prominent LLMs, each undergoing evolutionary development. We also discuss the integration of avatar technology to create an immersive, virtual environment for naturalistic dyadic conversations. © 2024 Owner/Author.},
keywords = {AI systems, College admissions, Continuous improvements, End to end, Interactive computer graphics, Interactive dialog system, interactive dialogue systems, Language Model, Modeling languages, Multi-modal, Multimodal computing, Video interview, video interviews, Virtual avatar, Virtual environments, Virtual Reality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
We present a demo comprising an end-to-end AI pipeline for practicing video interviews for a high-stakes scenarios (i.e., college admissions) with personalized, actionable feedback for continuous improvement of the user. This system provides personalized, actionable feedback for continuous user improvement. Utilizing large language models (LLMs), we generate questions and responses for a virtual avatar interviewer. Our focus on key qualities - such as concise responses with low latency, empathy, and smooth topic navigation - led to a comparative evaluation of several prominent LLMs, each undergoing evolutionary development. We also discuss the integration of avatar technology to create an immersive, virtual environment for naturalistic dyadic conversations. © 2024 Owner/Author.