Virtual Agent System to Induce Reminiscence Utterances With the Past and Present Map Information

Abstract

In recent decades, the increasing number of elderly people with dementia has become a major social problem. Under such circumstances, virtual agent systems aimed at helping with mental health care for the elderly have attracted increasing attention. In this study, we propose a novel virtual agent system that encourages users' speaking about their reminiscences of their hometown or favorite places. The key idea is that the contents that the agent delivers (i.e., speaks) are generated automatically depending on the present and past information about the places in question.