Look What I Made It Do - The ModelIT Method for Manually Modeling Nonverbal Behavior of Socially Interactive Agents

Nonverbal behavior of socially interactive agents (SIAs) is often automatically generated and identical across all users. This approach, though economic, might have counterproductive effects when designing applications for diverse and vulnerable populations. Also, it might negatively impact research validity and diminish the effectiveness of SIA-based interventions. This paper presents arguments for and proposes a method to model nonverbal behavior in SIAs. The ModelIT method enables researchers to ground the modelling of nonverbal behavior in psychological theories. It aims at establishing a standardized and replicable method that promotes open science practices and facilitates the creation of tailored SIAs. It is a step towards barrier-free and accessible SIA applications across diverse populations. The necessity, guidelines, and limitations of the ModelIT method are thoroughly addressed.