C-roids: life-like characters for situated natural language user interfaces

In a future scenario where many devices can be controlled using the voice, easy and intuitive access will be crucial for avoiding cognitive overload when faced with many different systems and interaction models. We propose a model for interaction with spoken language interfaces with heterogeneous tasks, based on the idea of using a family of life-like characters. The properties of these characters are based on psychological and linguistic principles of human natural language interaction. The general idea is that humanlike characters afford for human natural language behavior such as the ability of understanding and producing speech.