Modeling and optimizing the voice assistant behavior in Virtual Reality

Abstract

In this article, we present the design and development process of the robot voice assistant in Virtual Reality, created within the NUX project which aims at exploring the potential of voice interaction in VR. For the experiments, the testing environment was prepared in two variants: with graphical communication and with voice communication with an assistant. The environment is designed as a futuristic office on the space station and it is implemented in Unreal Engine 4. The verbal and nonverbal behavior of the assistant and the interactions chains were designed and optimized in 3 iterations and investigated using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods (N=28). The impact of the features of the assistant on the perception and attitudes of the users and the resulting design decisions are discussed.