We will develop a embodied character that acts in a three-dimensional
meetings space. It is difficult to begin talking if users have different
cultural backgrounds. The helper character provides them some common topics
to encourage them to begin small talk. We collected topics from Japanese
and US undergraduate students. We categorized these topics to make conversation
data of the character. Figure 4
shows a three-dimensional meeting space where the character is asking a
user. This system runs on a personal computer.
When people of different countries collaborate, it is important to know each other to do the remote collaboration smoothly. The system overlays video images of two separated groups on a large screen, and shows personal information, such as name, cultural information (e.g. nationality, language), and information about the collaboration (e.g. period, skill) in both languages. The user can change a displayed information by touching the menu on the screen.