Transcultural Believability in Embodied Agents: a Matter of Consistent Adaptation

In this contribution, we propose some reflections on how an Embodied Animated Agent might be designed so as to adapt its behavior to the cultural context to which it applies. We start from a discussion of the meaning of the term ‘culture’, to then analyse the literature findings about the way human beings’ behavior (natural language expression, affect feeling and display, verbal and nonverbal components of their communication and so on) varies according to the culture. The description of a context-adaptable Embodied Animated Agent is a departure point to suggest how adaptation might be extended to cultural factors. Finally, the problem of how to insure that the agent behaviour does not loose in consistency while acquiring adaptation abilities is examined: consistency is considered, at present, as an essential constituent of an agent ‘believability’ and should therefore guide the setting of values for adaptation parameters.