What is ECA (Embodied Conversational Agent)

Affective computing is a new artificial intelligence area that deals with the possibility of making computers able to recognize human emotions in different ways. This chapter represents an implemented framework, which integrates this new area with an intelligent tutoring system. The authors argue that tutor agents providing socially appropriate affective behaviors would provide a new dimension for collaborative learning systems. The main goal is to analyse learner facial expressions and show how affective computing could contribute to learning interactions, both by recognizing learner emotions during learning sessions and by responding appropriately.