2025
Lo, Priscilla Y., Veldhuis, Annemiek, Antle, Alissa N., DiPaola, Steve
Noel: A Chatbot Persona to Support Children Designing for Others Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Association for Computing Machinery, 2025, ISBN: 9798400713941.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: artificial intelligence, chatbot, children, design thinking, education, empathy, large language model, personas, visual impairment
@inproceedings{nokey,
title = {Noel: A Chatbot Persona to Support Children Designing for Others},
author = {Lo, Priscilla Y. and Veldhuis, Annemiek and Antle, Alissa N. and DiPaola, Steve},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713836},
doi = {10.1145/3706598.3713836},
isbn = {9798400713941},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-04-25},
urldate = {2025-04-25},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
series = {CHI '25},
abstract = {Designing for others encourages children to empathize with and consider different perspectives and needs. A chatbot persona could allow children to design for stakeholder groups that are challenging to involve directly in educational activities, such as people with disabilities. In this paper, we explore how an artificial intelligence chatbot persona leveraging the GPT-4 large language model can support children’s design empathy while designing for others. We report the design, development process, and implementation of a chatbot persona representing a 12-year-old child with low vision named Noel. The exploratory case study consisted of three 90- to 120-minute workshop sessions with nineteen students (ages 11 to 13) in a grade 6/7 classroom. Results illustrate ways that Noel supported students throughout the design process, their expressions of design empathy, and their experiences. We present implications for developers and educators along with future directions for research},
keywords = {artificial intelligence, chatbot, children, design thinking, education, empathy, large language model, personas, visual impairment},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Designing for others encourages children to empathize with and consider different perspectives and needs. A chatbot persona could allow children to design for stakeholder groups that are challenging to involve directly in educational activities, such as people with disabilities. In this paper, we explore how an artificial intelligence chatbot persona leveraging the GPT-4 large language model can support children’s design empathy while designing for others. We report the design, development process, and implementation of a chatbot persona representing a 12-year-old child with low vision named Noel. The exploratory case study consisted of three 90- to 120-minute workshop sessions with nineteen students (ages 11 to 13) in a grade 6/7 classroom. Results illustrate ways that Noel supported students throughout the design process, their expressions of design empathy, and their experiences. We present implications for developers and educators along with future directions for research
2017
Cole, Amelia W., Quesnel, Denise T., Pekçetin, Serkan, Gromala, Diane, O'Brien, Heather, Antle, Alissa N., Riecke, Bernhard E.
Integrating Affective Responses and Gamification into Early Reading Acquisition Software Applications Proceedings Article
In: Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 73–85, Association for Computing Machinery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2017, ISBN: 9781450351119.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: at-risk children, education, empathy, engagement, gamification, intelligent agents, motivation, Reading acquisition
@inproceedings{10.1145/3130859.3131433,
title = {Integrating Affective Responses and Gamification into Early Reading Acquisition Software Applications},
author = {Amelia W. Cole and Denise T. Quesnel and Serkan Pekçetin and Diane Gromala and Heather O'Brien and Alissa N. Antle and Bernhard E. Riecke},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3130859.3131433},
doi = {10.1145/3130859.3131433},
isbn = {9781450351119},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
booktitle = {Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play},
pages = {73–85},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {Amsterdam, The Netherlands},
series = {CHI PLAY '17 Extended Abstracts},
abstract = {Sisu is a gamified learning application designed to assist school-aged children who are struggling to read. Sisu utilizes readily-available technology to promote learning at home, with unique elements tied to the learning experience: (1) a spelling game with (2) an empathic agent, and (3) a mini-game. The empathic agent utilizes a facial action coding system (FACS) to recognize core expressions of the child user and respond to the child's affect in-game. We anticipate that Sisu's accessible and affective nature will not only support children's emotional needs, but the addition of gamified elements will motivate them to practice reading and assist them in their learning objectives.},
keywords = {at-risk children, education, empathy, engagement, gamification, intelligent agents, motivation, Reading acquisition},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Sisu is a gamified learning application designed to assist school-aged children who are struggling to read. Sisu utilizes readily-available technology to promote learning at home, with unique elements tied to the learning experience: (1) a spelling game with (2) an empathic agent, and (3) a mini-game. The empathic agent utilizes a facial action coding system (FACS) to recognize core expressions of the child user and respond to the child's affect in-game. We anticipate that Sisu's accessible and affective nature will not only support children's emotional needs, but the addition of gamified elements will motivate them to practice reading and assist them in their learning objectives.
2016
Radu, Iulian, Antle, Alissa N.
All Creatures Great and Small: Becoming Other Organisms through the EmbodySuit Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, pp. 751–758, Association for Computing Machinery, Manchester, United Kingdom, 2016, ISBN: 9781450343138.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: augmented reality, children, cyborgs, design, education, embodied empathy, experiential learning, nanorobots
@inproceedings{10.1145/2930674.2955209,
title = {All Creatures Great and Small: Becoming Other Organisms through the EmbodySuit},
author = {Iulian Radu and Alissa N. Antle},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2955209},
doi = {10.1145/2930674.2955209},
isbn = {9781450343138},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children},
pages = {751–758},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {Manchester, United Kingdom},
series = {IDC '16},
abstract = {The EmbodySuit augmented human system allows students to experience life from the perspectives of different organisms, by virtually and physically becoming birds, spiders, ants and even bacteria. Inspired by current advances in nanorobotics, Star Trek's holodeck and the Magic school bus, Embodysuit makes learning embodied and experiential. The student becomes a real organism, part of a real, natural ecosystem. The student's senses are adapted to those of the organism, and the student's actions map to the actions of an organism-sized robot inside a real environment. Our system is based on our projection of advances that will occur in the next 35 years in augmented reality, cybernetics and micro robotics. By about 2050 EmbodySuit type systems will be feasible to prototype, enabling us to address key research questions in classroom scientific inquiry; experiential and embodied learning; technology development; and design for 3D embodied cyber-systems.},
keywords = {augmented reality, children, cyborgs, design, education, embodied empathy, experiential learning, nanorobots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The EmbodySuit augmented human system allows students to experience life from the perspectives of different organisms, by virtually and physically becoming birds, spiders, ants and even bacteria. Inspired by current advances in nanorobotics, Star Trek's holodeck and the Magic school bus, Embodysuit makes learning embodied and experiential. The student becomes a real organism, part of a real, natural ecosystem. The student's senses are adapted to those of the organism, and the student's actions map to the actions of an organism-sized robot inside a real environment. Our system is based on our projection of advances that will occur in the next 35 years in augmented reality, cybernetics and micro robotics. By about 2050 EmbodySuit type systems will be feasible to prototype, enabling us to address key research questions in classroom scientific inquiry; experiential and embodied learning; technology development; and design for 3D embodied cyber-systems.