A Text-Driven Conversational Avatar Interface for Instant Messaging on Mobile Devices

In this letter, we investigate the use of conversational avatars as a means to improve the user experience on instant messaging (IM) for mobile devices. We describe the design and implementation of an interface for IM featuring a 3-D facial avatar that is driven by the text messages being exchanged between chatting participants. Our design is affordable under the limited computational capacity of current generation mobiles. We evaluate user acceptance and reaction via user studies, by comparing it to a more conventional IM interface, and provide recommendations for the effective design of conversational avatar interfaces for mobile applications.