My research aims at developing virtual environments populated by 'intelligent' entities which users can spontaneously interact with.
My research finds applications mainly for Virtual Environments for Human Learning (VEHL), a.k.a. Virtual Environment for Learning or Training (VEL/VET). More generally I am interested in projects where many users have to collaborate in a dynamic virtual environment with artificial entities, particularly virtual humans, to achieve a given task.
I am currently developing behavioral models to endow virtual humans with collaborative and conversational skills, including both decision-making mechanisms, natural language processing and non-verbal productions. These autonomous agents are able to engage themselves in conversations with users using natural language.