Embodied Conversational Agent projects:

• Current Work
  
  
  ECAs in computer and video games.
  Continuing research into and application of principles from social psychology that can be used to improve game characters. Reflected in a course taught at Rensselaer, and in a forthcoming book by Professor Isbister: Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach, to be released by Morgan Kaufman in fall, 2005.
  


• Past Work
  
  
  2000-2004
  Design of ECAs for user training, web help and sales, evacuation training, and other application areas.
  
  
  1998-2000
  Exploration of cross-cultural applications for ECAs.
  Research conducted during a one-year postdoctoral position at NTT in Japan, examining potential applications of ECAs in assisting people from different cultures.
  1995-1998
  Examination of body language and cue consistency in ECAs. Study of the cues of intelligence and creation of an interactive self-portrait.