The Impact of Emotion Recognition Models Towards Believability Factor of Chatbots

Emotionally-aware chatbots are chatbots that are equipped with emotional intelligence. Based on the literature, using emotional elements in chatbots can improve user engagement and believability factors. This study attempts to make a novel contribution by empirically evaluating the impact of emotion recognition models on the believability factor of chatbots. This study examines the impact of the emotions model and avatar on chatbot interactions through three implementations. Thirty-one participants volunteered to evaluate emotionally aware chatbots. The participants evaluated the interaction with the chatbot using the Godspeed Questionnaire Series (GQS). The questionnaire results are utilized to measure the effect of the emotions model on the chatbot's believability factor. The evaluation results of the experiment show that implementing the emotion recognition model on the chatbot increases its believability factors. On average, the believability measures in interaction type B (with an emotion model) are enhanced 1.71 times compared to interaction type A (a basic model). Furthermore, the believability measures in interaction type C (with an emotion model and an avatar) are enhanced 2 times more than in interaction type A (a basic model). The believability factor is also heightened by integrating a chatbot avatar into the interaction system. Using avatars in chatbots increases the believability variables of the system by 1.17 times if compared with not using avatars.