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Storytelling is a critical step in the cognitive development of children. Particularly, this requires children to mentally project into the story context and to identify with the thoughts of the characters in their stories. We propose to support free imagination in creative storytelling through an enactment- based approach that allows children to embody an avatar and perform as the story character. We designed our story creation interface with two modes of avatar: the story-relevant avatar and the self-avatar, to investigate the effects of avatar design on the quality of children’s creative products. In our study with 20 child participants, the results indicate that self-avatars can create a stronger sense of identification and embodied presence, while story-relevant avatars can provide a scaffold for mental projection.
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This content will become publicly available on June 21, 2027
Designing Conversational Agents for Young Children: Comparing Disembodied, Embodied, and Customizable Agents
Conversational agents (CAs) have become increasingly prominent in education, yet most research focuses on disembodied chatbots for higher education. Because visual representation is central for early childhood, we developed a web application with an LLM-based CA to examine how embodiment and visual appearance relate to children’s dialogic interactions. In an online study with 33 children ages 4–8, participants were randomly assigned to interact with a text-based CA, an embodied CA with a random avatar, or an embodied CA whose appearance children could customize. Children showed high verbal engagement regardless of CA type. Across interactions, children largely remained on topic, though playfulness, disengagement, and social connectedness varied. Interactions with custom avatar CAs more often included playful and disengaged behaviors, while customization patterns suggested that children created avatars resembling themselves or explored fantastical identities. This study provides initial insights into design mechanisms for child-centered pedagogical CAs.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2115382
- PAR ID:
- 10702027
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 9798400722837
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 989 to 995
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Brighton United Kingdom
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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