VIBE: The Story Behind Our Avatars
Tilburg University · Fontys · ROC Tilburg · Máxima Medisch Centrum · Spaarne Gasthuis
Virtual humans, or avatars, are conversational agents that operate in virtual reality and interact through speech, facial expression and movement. The VIBE project set out to build them for healthcare.
Photorealistic virtual agents
Getting this right is hard. As Carlos Santos puts it, “the agents should look like a human, with the appropriate eye gaze and facial expressions.” That realism matters because it engages the same perceptual and cognitive processes we use looking at real faces — which is what makes trust between a person and a virtual agent possible at all, and trust is the whole game in healthcare and education.
Artificial intelligence
Looking right is only half of it. An avatar also has to hold a conversation without running on a script, which means handling interaction that is genuinely dynamic and unpredictable. That was the core of VIBE’s research.
Background
VIBE stands for Virtual Humans in the Brabant Economy. It was initiated by Max Louwerse, Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Artificial Intelligence at Tilburg University, to draw together knowledge that was scattered across institutions and organisations.
In practice
The agents are used in healthcare settings for staff training and to support communication with patients. Partner hospitals acted as living labs, where interactive avatars could be tested and refined in real medical environments.
Adapted from the original article on ai.buas.nl.