AHCI RESEARCH GROUP
Publications
Papers published in international journals,
proceedings of conferences, workshops and books.
OUR RESEARCH
Scientific Publications
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You can expand the Abstract, Links and BibTex record for each paper.
2019
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
Introducing NarRob, a Robotic Storyteller Proceedings Article
In: Gentile, M; Allegra, M; Sobke, H (Ed.): GAMES AND LEARNING ALLIANCE, GALA 2018, pp. 387–396, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND, 2019, ISBN: 978-3-030-11548-7 978-3-030-11547-0.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Bullying, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Education, Robotics, Social Practices, Storytelling Robots
@inproceedings{augelloIntroducingNarRobRobotic2019,
title = {Introducing NarRob, a Robotic Storyteller},
author = { Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
editor = { M Gentile and M Allegra and H Sobke},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-11548-7_36},
isbn = {978-3-030-11548-7 978-3-030-11547-0},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {GAMES AND LEARNING ALLIANCE, GALA 2018},
volume = {11385},
pages = {387--396},
publisher = {SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG},
address = {GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND},
series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science},
abstract = {In this work we introduce NarRob, a robot able to engage in conversations and tell stories, by accompanying the speech with proper gestures. We discuss about the main components of the robot's architecture, and some possible education experiments that we are planning to carry out in real scholastic contexts.},
keywords = {Bullying, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Education, Robotics, Social Practices, Storytelling Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this work we introduce NarRob, a robot able to engage in conversations and tell stories, by accompanying the speech with proper gestures. We discuss about the main components of the robot's architecture, and some possible education experiments that we are planning to carry out in real scholastic contexts.
2018
Augello, Agnese; Gentile, Manuel; Dignum, Frank
An Overview of Open-Source Chatbots Social Skills Proceedings Article
In: Diplaris, S; Satsiou, A; Folstad, A; Vafopoulos, M; Vilarinho, T (Ed.): INTERNET SCIENCE, INSCI 2017, pp. 236–248, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND, 2018, ISBN: 978-3-319-77547-0 978-3-319-77546-3.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Social Practices
@inproceedings{augelloOverviewOpenSourceChatbots2018,
title = {An Overview of Open-Source Chatbots Social Skills},
author = { Agnese Augello and Manuel Gentile and Frank Dignum},
editor = { S Diplaris and A Satsiou and A Folstad and M Vafopoulos and T Vilarinho},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-77547-0_18},
isbn = {978-3-319-77547-0 978-3-319-77546-3},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
booktitle = {INTERNET SCIENCE, INSCI 2017},
volume = {10750},
pages = {236--248},
publisher = {SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG},
address = {GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND},
series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science},
abstract = {This paper aims to analyze and compare some of the most known open source chatbot technologies focusing on their potential to model a conversational agent able to show a form of ``social intelligence''. The main features and drawbacks of each system will be examined. Then, we will discuss their flexibility to produce more realistic social conversational scenarios adopting as the reference the social practice theory.},
keywords = {Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Social Practices},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This paper aims to analyze and compare some of the most known open source chatbot technologies focusing on their potential to model a conversational agent able to show a form of ``social intelligence''. The main features and drawbacks of each system will be examined. Then, we will discuss their flexibility to produce more realistic social conversational scenarios adopting as the reference the social practice theory.
2016
Augello, Agnese; Gentile, Manuel; Weideveld, Lucas; Dignum, Frank
Dialogues as Social Practices for Serious Games Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, vol. 285, pp. 1732–1733, 2016, ISSN: 09226389.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Gamification, Serious game, Social Practices
@article{augelloDialoguesSocialPractices2016,
title = {Dialogues as Social Practices for Serious Games},
author = { Agnese Augello and Manuel Gentile and Lucas Weideveld and Frank Dignum},
editor = { Dignum F. Hullermeier E. Bouquet P. Dignum V. Fox M. van Harmelen F. Kaminka G.A.},
doi = {10.3233/978-1-61499-672-9-1732},
issn = {09226389},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
journal = {Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications},
volume = {285},
pages = {1732--1733},
abstract = {The paper describes an architecture for a social conversational agent. The aim is to use the agent in a serious game to improve the social and communicative skills of the players, showing the social effects of conversational choices on the emotions and behavioural changes of the interlocutors.},
keywords = {Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Gamification, Serious game, Social Practices},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The paper describes an architecture for a social conversational agent. The aim is to use the agent in a serious game to improve the social and communicative skills of the players, showing the social effects of conversational choices on the emotions and behavioural changes of the interlocutors.
Augello, Agnese; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
Disaster Prevention Virtual Advisors through Soft Sensor Paradigm Journal Article
In: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol. 55, pp. 619–627, 2016, ISSN: 21903018.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial intelligence, Conversational Agents, Decision Support Systems, Disaster Prevention, Human computer interaction, Natural Language Processing, Ontologies, Sensor systems
@article{augelloDisasterPreventionVirtual2016,
title = {Disaster Prevention Virtual Advisors through Soft Sensor Paradigm},
author = { Agnese Augello and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
editor = { Giuseppe De Pietro and Luigi Gallo and Robert J. Howlett and Lakhmi C. Jain},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-39345-2_55},
issn = {21903018},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
journal = {Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies},
volume = {55},
pages = {619--627},
abstract = {In this paper we illustrate the architecture of an intelligent advisor agent aimed at limiting, or as far as possible preventing, the damages caused by catastrophic events, such as floods and landslides. The agent models the domain and makes forecasting by exploiting both ontology models and belief network models. Furthermore, it uses a monitoring network to recommend preventive measures and giving alerts, if necessary, before that the event happens. The monitoring network can be implemented through both physical and soft sensors: this choice makes the measurements more adequate and available also in case of failure of some of the physical sensors. The front-end of the agent is made by a chat-bot, capable to interact with human users using natural language. textcopyright Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.},
keywords = {Artificial intelligence, Conversational Agents, Decision Support Systems, Disaster Prevention, Human computer interaction, Natural Language Processing, Ontologies, Sensor systems},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In this paper we illustrate the architecture of an intelligent advisor agent aimed at limiting, or as far as possible preventing, the damages caused by catastrophic events, such as floods and landslides. The agent models the domain and makes forecasting by exploiting both ontology models and belief network models. Furthermore, it uses a monitoring network to recommend preventive measures and giving alerts, if necessary, before that the event happens. The monitoring network can be implemented through both physical and soft sensors: this choice makes the measurements more adequate and available also in case of failure of some of the physical sensors. The front-end of the agent is made by a chat-bot, capable to interact with human users using natural language. textcopyright Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.
Augello, Agnese; Gentile, Manuel; Dignum, Frank
Social Agents for Learning in Virtual Environments Journal Article
In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 10056 LNCS, pp. 133–143, 2016, ISSN: 03029743.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Conversational Agents, E-Learning, Education, IVA, Serious game, Social Agents, Social Context, Social Practices, Virtual Reality
@article{augelloSocialAgentsLearning2016,
title = {Social Agents for Learning in Virtual Environments},
author = { Agnese Augello and Manuel Gentile and Frank Dignum},
editor = { Jeuring J. Veltkamp R.C. Bottino R.},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-50182-6_12},
issn = {03029743},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
journal = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)},
volume = {10056 LNCS},
pages = {133--143},
abstract = {Several serious games have been proposed to practice communication strategies in formal contexts. Intelligent virtual agents (IVA) can be used to show the player the effects of a conversational move. In this paper we discuss the key role of using social context for the virtual agents in these serious games. Social practices are exploited to bundle social interactions into standard packages and as a basis to model the deliberation processes of IVAs. We describe a social practice oriented IVA architecture used in the implementation of a serious game for the practicing of communication in medical interviews. textcopyright Springer International Publishing AG 2016.},
keywords = {Conversational Agents, E-Learning, Education, IVA, Serious game, Social Agents, Social Context, Social Practices, Virtual Reality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Several serious games have been proposed to practice communication strategies in formal contexts. Intelligent virtual agents (IVA) can be used to show the player the effects of a conversational move. In this paper we discuss the key role of using social context for the virtual agents in these serious games. Social practices are exploited to bundle social interactions into standard packages and as a basis to model the deliberation processes of IVAs. We describe a social practice oriented IVA architecture used in the implementation of a serious game for the practicing of communication in medical interviews. textcopyright Springer International Publishing AG 2016.
Augello, Agnese; Gentile, Manuel; Dignum, Frank
Social Practices for Social Driven Conversations in Serious Games Journal Article
In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 9599, pp. 100–110, 2016, ISSN: 03029743.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Education, Serious game, Social Practices
@article{augelloSocialPracticesSocial2016,
title = {Social Practices for Social Driven Conversations in Serious Games},
author = { Agnese Augello and Manuel Gentile and Frank Dignum},
editor = { de Gloria A. Veltkamp R.},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-40216-1_11},
issn = {03029743},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
journal = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)},
volume = {9599},
pages = {100--110},
abstract = {This paper describes the model of social practice as a theoretical framework to manage conversation with the specific goal of training physicians in communicative skills. To this aim, the domain reasoner that manages the conversation in the Communicate! [1] serious game is taken as a basis. Because the choice of a specific Social Practice to follow in a situation is non-trivial we use a probabilistic model for the selection of social practices as a step toward the implementation of an agent architecture compliant with the social practice model. textcopyright Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.},
keywords = {Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Education, Serious game, Social Practices},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper describes the model of social practice as a theoretical framework to manage conversation with the specific goal of training physicians in communicative skills. To this aim, the domain reasoner that manages the conversation in the Communicate! [1] serious game is taken as a basis. Because the choice of a specific Social Practice to follow in a situation is non-trivial we use a probabilistic model for the selection of social practices as a step toward the implementation of an agent architecture compliant with the social practice model. textcopyright Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.
2014
Augello, Agnese; Pilato, Giovanni; Vassallo, Giorgio; Gaglio, Salvatore
Chatbots as Interface to Ontologies Journal Article
In: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 260, pp. 285–299, 2014, ISSN: 21945357.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Knowledge Representation, Natural Language Processing, Ontologies
@article{augelloChatbotsInterfaceOntologies2014,
title = {Chatbots as Interface to Ontologies},
author = { Agnese Augello and Giovanni Pilato and Giorgio Vassallo and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-03992-3_20},
issn = {21945357},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-01-01},
journal = {Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing},
volume = {260},
pages = {285--299},
abstract = {Chatbots are simple conversational agents using 'pattern matching rules' to carry out the dialogue with the user and various expedients to improve their credibility. However, the rules on which they are based on are too restrictive and their language understanding capability is very limited. Nevertheless chatbots are widespread in several applications, especially to provide information to users in a new and enjoyable way. In this chapter we describe different chatbot architectures, exploiting the use of ontologies in order to create clever information suppliers overcoming the main limits of chatbots: The knowledge base building and the rigidness of the dialogue mechanism. textcopyright Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.},
keywords = {Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Knowledge Representation, Natural Language Processing, Ontologies},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Chatbots are simple conversational agents using 'pattern matching rules' to carry out the dialogue with the user and various expedients to improve their credibility. However, the rules on which they are based on are too restrictive and their language understanding capability is very limited. Nevertheless chatbots are widespread in several applications, especially to provide information to users in a new and enjoyable way. In this chapter we describe different chatbot architectures, exploiting the use of ontologies in order to create clever information suppliers overcoming the main limits of chatbots: The knowledge base building and the rigidness of the dialogue mechanism. textcopyright Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.
2011
Augello, Agnese; Scriminaci, Mario; Gaglio, Salvatore; Pilato, Giovanni
A Modular Framework for Versatile Conversational Agent Building Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems, CISIS 2011, pp. 577–582, 2011, ISBN: 978-0-7695-4373-4.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Conversational Agents, Intelligent Agents, Knowledge Representation, Ontologies, Semantic Computing, Semantic Spaces
@inproceedings{augelloModularFrameworkVersatile2011,
title = {A Modular Framework for Versatile Conversational Agent Building},
author = { Agnese Augello and Mario Scriminaci and Salvatore Gaglio and Giovanni Pilato},
doi = {10.1109/CISIS.2011.95},
isbn = {978-0-7695-4373-4},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems, CISIS 2011},
pages = {577--582},
abstract = {This paper illustrates a web-based infrastructure of an architecture for conversational agents equipped with a modular knowledge base. This solution has the advantage to allow the building of specific modules that deal with particular features of a conversation (ranging from its topic to the manner of reasoning of the chatbot). This enhances the agent interaction capabilities. The approach simplifies the chatbot knowledge base design process: extending, generalizing or even restricting the chatbot knowledge base in order to suit it to manage specific dialoguing tasks as much as possible. textcopyright 2011 IEEE.},
keywords = {Conversational Agents, Intelligent Agents, Knowledge Representation, Ontologies, Semantic Computing, Semantic Spaces},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This paper illustrates a web-based infrastructure of an architecture for conversational agents equipped with a modular knowledge base. This solution has the advantage to allow the building of specific modules that deal with particular features of a conversation (ranging from its topic to the manner of reasoning of the chatbot). This enhances the agent interaction capabilities. The approach simplifies the chatbot knowledge base design process: extending, generalizing or even restricting the chatbot knowledge base in order to suit it to manage specific dialoguing tasks as much as possible. textcopyright 2011 IEEE.
Pilato, Giovanni; Augello, Agnese; Gaglio, Salvatore
A Modular Architecture for Adaptive ChatBots Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings - 5th IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing, ICSC 2011, pp. 177–180, 2011, ISBN: 978-0-7695-4492-2.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Intelligent Agents, Knowledge Representation, Semantic Computing
@inproceedings{pilatoModularArchitectureAdaptive2011,
title = {A Modular Architecture for Adaptive ChatBots},
author = { Giovanni Pilato and Agnese Augello and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1109/ICSC.2011.68},
isbn = {978-0-7695-4492-2},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings - 5th IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing, ICSC 2011},
pages = {177--180},
abstract = {We illustrate an architecture for a conversational agent based on a modular knowledge representation. This solution provides intelligent conversational agents with a dynamic and flexible behavior. The modularity of the architecture allows a concurrent and synergic use of different techniques, making it possible to use the most adequate methodology for the management of a specific characteristic of the domain, of the dialogue, or of the user behavior. We show the implementation of a proof-of-concept prototype: a set of modules exploiting different knowledge representation techniques and capable to differently manage conversation features has been developed. Each module is automatically triggered through a component, named corpus callosum, whose task is to choose, time by time, the most adequate chatbot knowledge section to activate. textcopyright 2011 IEEE.},
keywords = {Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Intelligent Agents, Knowledge Representation, Semantic Computing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
We illustrate an architecture for a conversational agent based on a modular knowledge representation. This solution provides intelligent conversational agents with a dynamic and flexible behavior. The modularity of the architecture allows a concurrent and synergic use of different techniques, making it possible to use the most adequate methodology for the management of a specific characteristic of the domain, of the dialogue, or of the user behavior. We show the implementation of a proof-of-concept prototype: a set of modules exploiting different knowledge representation techniques and capable to differently manage conversation features has been developed. Each module is automatically triggered through a component, named corpus callosum, whose task is to choose, time by time, the most adequate chatbot knowledge section to activate. textcopyright 2011 IEEE.
Pilato, Giovanni; Augello, Agnese; Gaglio, Salvatore
Modular Knowledge Representation in Advisor Agents for Situation Awareness Journal Article
In: International Journal of Semantic Computing, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 33–53, 2011, ISSN: 1793351X.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Chatbots, Context awareness, Conversational Agents, Decision Support Systems, Knowledge Representation, Semantic Computing
@article{pilatoModularKnowledgeRepresentation2011,
title = {Modular Knowledge Representation in Advisor Agents for Situation Awareness},
author = { Giovanni Pilato and Agnese Augello and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1142/S1793351X11001158},
issn = {1793351X},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-01-01},
journal = {International Journal of Semantic Computing},
volume = {5},
number = {1},
pages = {33--53},
abstract = {A modular knowledge representation framework for conversational agents is presented. The approach has been realized to suit the situation awareness paradigm. The modularity of the framework makes possible the composition of specific modules that deal with particular features, simplifying both the chatbot design process and its smartness. As a proof of concepts we have developed a modular, situation awareness oriented, KB for a conversational agent, which plays the role of an advisor aimed at helping a user to be in charge of a virtual town, inspired to the SimCity series game. The agent makes an extensive use of semantic computing techniques and is able to perceive, comprehend and project consequences of actions in order to handle strategic decision under uncertainty conditions. textcopyright 2011 World Scientific Publishing Company.},
keywords = {Chatbots, Context awareness, Conversational Agents, Decision Support Systems, Knowledge Representation, Semantic Computing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
A modular knowledge representation framework for conversational agents is presented. The approach has been realized to suit the situation awareness paradigm. The modularity of the framework makes possible the composition of specific modules that deal with particular features, simplifying both the chatbot design process and its smartness. As a proof of concepts we have developed a modular, situation awareness oriented, KB for a conversational agent, which plays the role of an advisor aimed at helping a user to be in charge of a virtual town, inspired to the SimCity series game. The agent makes an extensive use of semantic computing techniques and is able to perceive, comprehend and project consequences of actions in order to handle strategic decision under uncertainty conditions. textcopyright 2011 World Scientific Publishing Company.
2010
Augello, Agnese; Pilato, Giovanni; Gaglio, Salvatore
An Intelligent Advisor to Suggest Strategies in Economic Policy Decisions Proceedings Article
In: CISIS 2010 - The 4th International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems, pp. 734–739, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-7695-3967-6.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial intelligence, Conversational Agents, Decision Networks, Decision Support Systems, Knowledge Representation, Ontologies
@inproceedings{augelloIntelligentAdvisorSuggest2010,
title = {An Intelligent Advisor to Suggest Strategies in Economic Policy Decisions},
author = { Agnese Augello and Giovanni Pilato and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1109/CISIS.2010.75},
isbn = {978-0-7695-3967-6},
year = {2010},
date = {2010-01-01},
booktitle = {CISIS 2010 - The 4th International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems},
pages = {734--739},
abstract = {In this paper we illustrate the architecture of an agent that plays the role of an "intelligent advisor". The advisor is aimed at suggesting the best managing strategies for a model of a virtual town. A Decision Support System (DSS) embedded on a conversational agent constitutes the intelligent advisor architecture. Two interacting knowledge representation areas characterize the DSS. The first one deals with the description of the domain and the deterministic events through the use of ontologies. The second one deals with the management of situations characterized by uncertainty. The intelligent advisor tries to prospect the future evolutions of particular choices taken by the user, and as a consequence, suggests the player-user the best strategy given the current status of the game. textcopyright 2010 IEEE.},
keywords = {Artificial intelligence, Conversational Agents, Decision Networks, Decision Support Systems, Knowledge Representation, Ontologies},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper we illustrate the architecture of an agent that plays the role of an "intelligent advisor". The advisor is aimed at suggesting the best managing strategies for a model of a virtual town. A Decision Support System (DSS) embedded on a conversational agent constitutes the intelligent advisor architecture. Two interacting knowledge representation areas characterize the DSS. The first one deals with the description of the domain and the deterministic events through the use of ontologies. The second one deals with the management of situations characterized by uncertainty. The intelligent advisor tries to prospect the future evolutions of particular choices taken by the user, and as a consequence, suggests the player-user the best strategy given the current status of the game. textcopyright 2010 IEEE.
Vassallo, Giorgio; Pilato, Giovanni; Augello, Agnese; Gaglio, Salvatore
Phase Coherence in Conceptual Spaces for Conversational Agents Book
John Wiley and Sons, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-470-46495-3.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Chatbots, Conversational Agents
@book{vassalloPhaseCoherenceConceptual2010,
title = {Phase Coherence in Conceptual Spaces for Conversational Agents},
author = { Giorgio Vassallo and Giovanni Pilato and Agnese Augello and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1002/9780470588222.ch18},
isbn = {978-0-470-46495-3},
year = {2010},
date = {2010-01-01},
publisher = {John Wiley and Sons},
keywords = {Chatbots, Conversational Agents},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {book}
}
2009
Augello, Agnese; Pilato, Giovanni; Gaglio, Salvatore
A Conversational Agent to Support Decisions in SimCity like Games Proceedings Article
In: ICSC 2009 - 2009 IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing, pp. 367–372, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-7695-3800-6.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial intelligence, Conversational Agents, Decision Support Systems, Human computer interaction, Semantic Computing
@inproceedings{augelloConversationalAgentSupport2009,
title = {A Conversational Agent to Support Decisions in SimCity like Games},
author = { Agnese Augello and Giovanni Pilato and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1109/ICSC.2009.74},
isbn = {978-0-7695-3800-6},
year = {2009},
date = {2009-01-01},
booktitle = {ICSC 2009 - 2009 IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing},
pages = {367--372},
abstract = {Computational intelligent techniques applied to economics have played an important role in the last years. In this paper we propose a framework based on an intelligent conversational agent embedded with a decision support system, aimed at suggesting the best managing strategies for a game-based model of a virtual town. The agent tries to prospect the future evolutions of particular choices taken by the user. Interaction is conducted through a natural language interface built as an Alice-based conversational agent. textcopyright 2009 IEEE.},
keywords = {Artificial intelligence, Conversational Agents, Decision Support Systems, Human computer interaction, Semantic Computing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Computational intelligent techniques applied to economics have played an important role in the last years. In this paper we propose a framework based on an intelligent conversational agent embedded with a decision support system, aimed at suggesting the best managing strategies for a game-based model of a virtual town. The agent tries to prospect the future evolutions of particular choices taken by the user. Interaction is conducted through a natural language interface built as an Alice-based conversational agent. textcopyright 2009 IEEE.
Sorce, Salvatore; Augello, Agnese; Santangelo, Antonella; Genco, Alessandro; Gentile, Antonio; Gaglio, Salvatore; Pilato, Giovanni
An RFID Framework for Multimodal Service Provision Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems, CISIS 2009, pp. 730–735, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-7695-3575-3.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Common Sense Reasoning, Context awareness, Conversational Agents, Human computer interaction, Multimodal Interaction, Ontologies, RFID Technology
@inproceedings{sorceRFIDFrameworkMultimodal2009,
title = {An RFID Framework for Multimodal Service Provision},
author = { Salvatore Sorce and Agnese Augello and Antonella Santangelo and Alessandro Genco and Antonio Gentile and Salvatore Gaglio and Giovanni Pilato},
doi = {10.1109/CISIS.2009.168},
isbn = {978-0-7695-3575-3},
year = {2009},
date = {2009-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems, CISIS 2009},
pages = {730--735},
abstract = {In recent years there has been a growing interest toward the evelopment of pervasive and contextaware services, and RFID technology played a relevant role in the context sensing task. We propose the use of RFID technology together with a conversational agent in order to implement a multimodal information retrieval service we call SensorMesh. The information acquired from RFID tags about the nearest point of interest is processed by the conversational agent that carries a more natural interaction with the user, also exploiting a common sense ontology. The service is accessible using a multimodal browser on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs); the browser allows the user to interact with the conversational agent by means of spoken language instead of the traditional, keyboard- (or stylus-) based input systems. The resulting system offers a more natural interaction with respect to traditional prerecorded, audio-visual services, and it is particularly suitable for non technology-skilled users. textcopyright 2009 IEEE.},
keywords = {Common Sense Reasoning, Context awareness, Conversational Agents, Human computer interaction, Multimodal Interaction, Ontologies, RFID Technology},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In recent years there has been a growing interest toward the evelopment of pervasive and contextaware services, and RFID technology played a relevant role in the context sensing task. We propose the use of RFID technology together with a conversational agent in order to implement a multimodal information retrieval service we call SensorMesh. The information acquired from RFID tags about the nearest point of interest is processed by the conversational agent that carries a more natural interaction with the user, also exploiting a common sense ontology. The service is accessible using a multimodal browser on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs); the browser allows the user to interact with the conversational agent by means of spoken language instead of the traditional, keyboard- (or stylus-) based input systems. The resulting system offers a more natural interaction with respect to traditional prerecorded, audio-visual services, and it is particularly suitable for non technology-skilled users. textcopyright 2009 IEEE.
2008
Augello, Agnese; Saccone, Gaetano; Gaglio, Salvatore; Pilato, Giovanni
Humorist Bot: Bringing Computational Humour in a Chat-Bot System Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings - CISIS 2008: 2nd International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems, pp. 703–708, 2008, ISBN: 0-7695-3109-1 978-0-7695-3109-0.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Chatbots, Computational Humour, Conversational Agents
@inproceedings{augelloHumoristBotBringing2008,
title = {Humorist Bot: Bringing Computational Humour in a Chat-Bot System},
author = { Agnese Augello and Gaetano Saccone and Salvatore Gaglio and Giovanni Pilato},
doi = {10.1109/CISIS.2008.117},
isbn = {0-7695-3109-1 978-0-7695-3109-0},
year = {2008},
date = {2008-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings - CISIS 2008: 2nd International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems},
pages = {703--708},
abstract = {A conversational agent, capable to have a "sense of humour" is presented. The agent can both generate humorous sentences and recognize humoristic expressions introduced by the user during the dialogue. HumoristBot makes use of well founded techniques of computational humor and it has been implemented using the ALICE framework embedded into an Yahoo! Messenger client. It includes also an avatar that changes the face expression according to humoristic content of the dialogue. textcopyright 2008 IEEE.},
keywords = {Chatbots, Computational Humour, Conversational Agents},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
A conversational agent, capable to have a "sense of humour" is presented. The agent can both generate humorous sentences and recognize humoristic expressions introduced by the user during the dialogue. HumoristBot makes use of well founded techniques of computational humor and it has been implemented using the ALICE framework embedded into an Yahoo! Messenger client. It includes also an avatar that changes the face expression according to humoristic content of the dialogue. textcopyright 2008 IEEE.
Gambino, Orazio; Augello, Agnese; Caronia, Alessandro; Pilato, Giovanni; Pirrone, Roberto; Gaglio, Salvatore
Virtual Conversation with a Real Talking Head Proceedings Article
In: 2008 Conference on Human System Interaction, HSI 2008, pp. 263–268, 2008, ISBN: 1-4244-1543-8 978-1-4244-1543-4.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: 3D Modelling, Animation, Artificial intelligence, Computational Linguistics, Conversational Agents, Human computer interaction, Natural Language Processing, Talking Heads
@inproceedings{gambinoVirtualConversationReal2008,
title = {Virtual Conversation with a Real Talking Head},
author = { Orazio Gambino and Agnese Augello and Alessandro Caronia and Giovanni Pilato and Roberto Pirrone and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1109/HSI.2008.4581446},
isbn = {1-4244-1543-8 978-1-4244-1543-4},
year = {2008},
date = {2008-01-01},
booktitle = {2008 Conference on Human System Interaction, HSI 2008},
pages = {263--268},
abstract = {A talking head is system performing an animated face model synchronized with a speech synthesis module. It is used as a presentation layer of a conversational Agent which provide an answer . It provides an answer when a query is written as an input by the user. The textual answer is converted into facial movements of a 3D face model whose lips and tongue movements are synchronized with the sound of the synthetic voice. The Client-Server paradigm has been used for the WEB infrastructure delegating the animation and synchronization to the client, so that the server can satisfy multiple requests from clients; while the Chatbot, the Digital Signal Processing and the Natural language Processing are provided by the server. textcopyright 2008 IEEE.},
keywords = {3D Modelling, Animation, Artificial intelligence, Computational Linguistics, Conversational Agents, Human computer interaction, Natural Language Processing, Talking Heads},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
A talking head is system performing an animated face model synchronized with a speech synthesis module. It is used as a presentation layer of a conversational Agent which provide an answer . It provides an answer when a query is written as an input by the user. The textual answer is converted into facial movements of a 3D face model whose lips and tongue movements are synchronized with the sound of the synthetic voice. The Client-Server paradigm has been used for the WEB infrastructure delegating the animation and synchronization to the client, so that the server can satisfy multiple requests from clients; while the Chatbot, the Digital Signal Processing and the Natural language Processing are provided by the server. textcopyright 2008 IEEE.
Pilato, Giovanni; Augello, Agnese; Vassallo, Giorgio; Gaglio, Salvatore
EHeBby: An Evocative Humorist Chat-Bot Journal Article
In: Mobile Information Systems, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 165–181, 2008, ISSN: 1574017X.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Chatbots, Computational Humour, Conversational Agents
@article{pilatoEHeBbyEvocativeHumorist2008,
title = {EHeBby: An Evocative Humorist Chat-Bot},
author = { Giovanni Pilato and Agnese Augello and Giorgio Vassallo and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1155/2008/312319},
issn = {1574017X},
year = {2008},
date = {2008-01-01},
journal = {Mobile Information Systems},
volume = {4},
number = {3},
pages = {165--181},
abstract = {A conversational agent, capable to have a "sense of humor" is presented. The agent can both generate humorous sentences and recognize humoristic expressions introduced by the user during the dialogue. EHeBby is an entertainment oriented conversational agent implemented using the ALICE framework embedded into an Yahoo! Messenger client. It is characterized by two areas: a rational, rule-based area and an evocative area. The first one is based on well founded techniques of computational humor and a standard AIML KB. The second one is based on a conceptual space, automatically induced by a corpus of funny documents, where KB items and user sentences are mapped. This area emulates an associative/evocative behavior of the conversational agent, making her more attractive. EHeBby includes also an avatar that changes the face expression according to humoristic content of the dialogue. textcopyright 2008 - IOS Press and the authors.},
keywords = {Chatbots, Computational Humour, Conversational Agents},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
A conversational agent, capable to have a "sense of humor" is presented. The agent can both generate humorous sentences and recognize humoristic expressions introduced by the user during the dialogue. EHeBby is an entertainment oriented conversational agent implemented using the ALICE framework embedded into an Yahoo! Messenger client. It is characterized by two areas: a rational, rule-based area and an evocative area. The first one is based on well founded techniques of computational humor and a standard AIML KB. The second one is based on a conceptual space, automatically induced by a corpus of funny documents, where KB items and user sentences are mapped. This area emulates an associative/evocative behavior of the conversational agent, making her more attractive. EHeBby includes also an avatar that changes the face expression according to humoristic content of the dialogue. textcopyright 2008 - IOS Press and the authors.
2007
Augello, Agnese; Santangelo, Antonella; Sorce, Salvatore; Pilato, Giovanni; Gentile, Antonio; Genco, Alessandro; Gaglio, Salvatore
A Multimodal Interaction Guide for Pervasive Services Access Proceedings Article
In: 2007 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Services, ICPS, pp. 250–256, 2007, ISBN: 1-4244-1326-5 978-1-4244-1326-3.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Common Sense Reasoning, Conversational Agents, Cultural heritage, IVA, Multimodal Interaction, Pervasive Systems
@inproceedings{augelloMultimodalInteractionGuide2007,
title = {A Multimodal Interaction Guide for Pervasive Services Access},
author = { Agnese Augello and Antonella Santangelo and Salvatore Sorce and Giovanni Pilato and Antonio Gentile and Alessandro Genco and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1109/PERSER.2007.4283923},
isbn = {1-4244-1326-5 978-1-4244-1326-3},
year = {2007},
date = {2007-01-01},
booktitle = {2007 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Services, ICPS},
pages = {250--256},
abstract = {A pervasive, multimodal virtual guide for a cultural heritage site tour is illustrated. The guide is based on the integration of different technologies such as conversational agents, commonsense reasoning knowledge bases, multimodal interfaces and self-location detection systems. The aim of the work is to offer a more natural, context sensitive access to information with respect to traditional audio/visual pre-recorded guides. A prototype has been developed and implemented on a Qtek 9090 with Windows Mobile 2003 in order to deal with the "Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento" domain. textcopyright 2007 IEEE.},
keywords = {Common Sense Reasoning, Conversational Agents, Cultural heritage, IVA, Multimodal Interaction, Pervasive Systems},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
A pervasive, multimodal virtual guide for a cultural heritage site tour is illustrated. The guide is based on the integration of different technologies such as conversational agents, commonsense reasoning knowledge bases, multimodal interfaces and self-location detection systems. The aim of the work is to offer a more natural, context sensitive access to information with respect to traditional audio/visual pre-recorded guides. A prototype has been developed and implemented on a Qtek 9090 with Windows Mobile 2003 in order to deal with the "Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento" domain. textcopyright 2007 IEEE.
Pilato, Giovanni; Augello, Agnese; Vassallo, Giorgio; Gaglio, Salvatore
Sub-Symbolic Semantic Layer in Cyc for Intuitive Chat-Bots Proceedings Article
In: ICSC 2007 International Conference on Semantic Computing, pp. 121–128, 2007, ISBN: 0-7695-2997-6 978-0-7695-2997-4.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Common Sense Reasoning, Conversational Agents, Cyc Ontology, Knowledge Representation, Latent Semantic Analysis, Ontologies, Semantic Computing, Semantic Spaces
@inproceedings{pilatoSubsymbolicSemanticLayer2007,
title = {Sub-Symbolic Semantic Layer in Cyc for Intuitive Chat-Bots},
author = { Giovanni Pilato and Agnese Augello and Giorgio Vassallo and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1109/ICSC.2007.37},
isbn = {0-7695-2997-6 978-0-7695-2997-4},
year = {2007},
date = {2007-01-01},
booktitle = {ICSC 2007 International Conference on Semantic Computing},
pages = {121--128},
abstract = {The work presented in this paper aims to combine Latent Semantic Analysis methodology, common sense and traditional knowledge representation in order to improve the dialogue capabilities of a conversational agent. In our approach the agent brain is characterized by two areas: a "rational area", composed by a structured, rule-based knowledge base, and an "associative area", obtained through a data-driven semantic space. Concepts are mapped in this space and their mutual geometric distance is related to their conceptual similarity. The geometric distance between concepts implicitly defines a sub-symbolic relationship net, which can be seen as a new "subsymbolic semantic layer" automatically added to the Cyc ontology. Users queries can also be mapped in the same conceptual space, and evoke similar ontology concepts. As a result the agent can exploit this feature, attempting to retrieve ontological concepts that are not easily reachable by means of the traditional ontology reasoning engine. textcopyright 2007 IEEE.},
keywords = {Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Common Sense Reasoning, Conversational Agents, Cyc Ontology, Knowledge Representation, Latent Semantic Analysis, Ontologies, Semantic Computing, Semantic Spaces},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The work presented in this paper aims to combine Latent Semantic Analysis methodology, common sense and traditional knowledge representation in order to improve the dialogue capabilities of a conversational agent. In our approach the agent brain is characterized by two areas: a "rational area", composed by a structured, rule-based knowledge base, and an "associative area", obtained through a data-driven semantic space. Concepts are mapped in this space and their mutual geometric distance is related to their conceptual similarity. The geometric distance between concepts implicitly defines a sub-symbolic relationship net, which can be seen as a new "subsymbolic semantic layer" automatically added to the Cyc ontology. Users queries can also be mapped in the same conceptual space, and evoke similar ontology concepts. As a result the agent can exploit this feature, attempting to retrieve ontological concepts that are not easily reachable by means of the traditional ontology reasoning engine. textcopyright 2007 IEEE.
2005
Agostaro, Francesco; Augello, Agnese; Pilato, Giovanni; Vassallo, Giorgio; Gaglio, Salvatore
A Conversational Agent Based on a Conceptual Interpretation of a Data Driven Semantic Space Journal Article
In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 3673 LNAI, pp. 381–392, 2005, ISSN: 03029743.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Semantic Spaces
@article{agostaroConversationalAgentBased2005,
title = {A Conversational Agent Based on a Conceptual Interpretation of a Data Driven Semantic Space},
author = { Francesco Agostaro and Agnese Augello and Giovanni Pilato and Giorgio Vassallo and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1007/11558590_39},
issn = {03029743},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)},
volume = {3673 LNAI},
pages = {381--392},
abstract = {In this work we propose an interpretation of the LSA framework which leads to a data-driven "conceptual" space creation suitable for an "intuitive" conversational agent. The proposed approach allows overcoming the limitations of traditional, rule-based, chat-bots, leading to a more natural dialogue. textcopyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.},
keywords = {Artificial intelligence, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Semantic Spaces},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In this work we propose an interpretation of the LSA framework which leads to a data-driven "conceptual" space creation suitable for an "intuitive" conversational agent. The proposed approach allows overcoming the limitations of traditional, rule-based, chat-bots, leading to a more natural dialogue. textcopyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.