December 2015
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61 Reads
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11 Citations
Lecture Notes in Computer Science
The paper describes a prototype Embodied Conversational Agent or Companion, called CALONIS, for a brain-injured Veteran with severe cognitive impairment. The CALONIS project is a sub-project of the larger Tampa VA SmartHome implementation initiative. CALONIS is intended to provide increased engagement, diversion and assistance beyond the usual mechanisms of providing assistance through text based prompting and interactions. We hope to eventually integrate CALONIS fully into the next generation of the Tampa VA SmartHome in which the SmartHome itself becomes a fully interactive and intelligent electronic caregiver. The project began with a Wizard-of-Oz version of CALONIS but even at this early stage we appear to have achieved high levels of patient engagement as well as in relation to the caregiver. The full CALONIS prototype is based on the Senior Companion project, originally developed as part of a large-scale EU project [1].