The virtual other: aspects of social interaction with synthetic characters

摘要

By questioning the concept of "believability" frequently used as a measure for the success of embodied agents, the article lays out the reasons and implications for replacing it by a concept of "agency." It discusses the numerous expectations that are involve din the interaction between social actors, whether human or artificial. It is shown that research attempts to satisfy the requirements of communicative rationaility which, however, presupposes implicitly a shared and unproblematic background. Cultural background as part of the "lifeworld" in the sociological sense, plays an important role in interactional behavior that serves to establish, maintain, and terminate any communicative activity.