CATe: An embodied conversational agent for the elderly

• Main Authors: Bravo, Sean Latrelle, Herrera, Cedric Jose, Valdez, Edward Carlo, Poliquit, Klint John, Ureta, Jennifer, Cu, Jocelynn, Azcarraga, Judith Jumig, Rivera, Joanna Pauline
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/1064
• Institution: De La Salle University

Copyright © 2020 by SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved Social isolation and loneliness affect one-third to one-half of the elderly population, and these have a very negative impact on the physical and mental health of the elderly. Cate is an Embodied Conversational Agent designed to alleviate social isolation and loneliness of the elderly. It takes in user inputs through buttons and responds through text-to-speech and emotion animations developed with the use of SmartBody. Interviews were conducted to identify what the elders like to talk about and how elders interact in general. An end-user evaluation form and an observation checklist were used to see what the elders thought of the application. Cate achieved an overall satisfaction score of 3.98 on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Based on the results, elders generally like interacting with Cate and can see Cate as a possible companion.