TY - GEN
T1 - Effects of Embodiment and Personality in LLM-Based Conversational Agents
AU - Sonlu, Sinan
AU - Bendiksen, Bennie
AU - Durupinar, Funda
AU - Gudukbay, Ugur
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 IEEE.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - This work investigates the effects of personality expression and embodiment in conversational agents. We extend a personality-driven conversational agent framework by integrating LLM-based conversation support to provide information about contemporary scientific topics. We describe a user study built on this system to evaluate two opposing personality styles using three models: a dialogue-only model that conveys personality verbally, an animated human model that expresses personality only through dialogue, and an animated human model expressing personality through dialogue and expressive animations. The users perceive all models positively regarding personality and learning outcomes; however, models with high personality traits are perceived as more engaging than those with low personality traits. We provide an analysis of personality perception, learning, and user experience.
AB - This work investigates the effects of personality expression and embodiment in conversational agents. We extend a personality-driven conversational agent framework by integrating LLM-based conversation support to provide information about contemporary scientific topics. We describe a user study built on this system to evaluate two opposing personality styles using three models: a dialogue-only model that conveys personality verbally, an animated human model that expresses personality only through dialogue, and an animated human model expressing personality through dialogue and expressive animations. The users perceive all models positively regarding personality and learning outcomes; however, models with high personality traits are perceived as more engaging than those with low personality traits. We provide an analysis of personality perception, learning, and user experience.
KW - Character animation
KW - Conversational agent
KW - Dialogue
KW - Five-factor personality
KW - Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT)
KW - Large Language Model (LLM)
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105002717630
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105002717630#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1109/VR59515.2025.00094
DO - 10.1109/VR59515.2025.00094
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105002717630
T3 - Proceedings - 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces, VR 2025
SP - 718
EP - 728
BT - Proceedings - 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces, VR 2025
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 32nd IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces, VR 2025
Y2 - 8 March 2025 through 12 March 2025
ER -