Theory of Companions¶
One goal of the SERA project was to develop a theoretical framework for sociable companions as well as for human-artefact interaction. In a first step, an extensive literature review with a focus on social-psychological theories of human-human relationships was undertaken.
In discussing several levels of sociability from a theoretical point-of-view, we critically reflected whether human-companion interaction has to build on basic principles of human-human interaction or whether there are alternative approaches. The critical question was raised whether a theoretical framework will be able to serve as a starting point for deriving guidelines for architecture and implementation. SERA project results demonstrate that inter-individual differences between human users determine both the interaction and the relationship building with an artefact. In sum, it can been shown that a theory of companions without considering the human user and his/her needs, perceptions and communication patterns will not be useful. Instead of a theory of companions we therefore need a “Theory of companion-human-interaction” in which the human user is taken into account from the very first steps in the design process onwards to the empirical analysis of successful long-term relationships between humans and artefacts.
Krämer et al. 2011: Theory of Companions This is a preprint of an article submitted for consideration in the Journal Applied Artificial Intelligence 2011 ©Taylor&Francis.