FoodChattAR: Exploring the Design Space of Edible Virtual Agents for Human-Food Interaction

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There has been recent criticism from researchers towards simple replication of traditional role models in the design of virtual agents and robots, and a call for new forms of interaction and communication with technology. By exploring the field of Human-Food interaction (HFI) – a sub-area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) which aims to investigate the diversity of ways people interact with food – we therefore specifically examine the design space of edible anthropomorphic virtual agents (EAVAs). To understand human-to-food interactive communication, we conducted an interview study with 19 participants, followed by a co-design workshop on the design of conversational agents for personified food. Based on the results, we implemented a prototype called FoodChattAR that employs augmented reality and chatbots to interact and communicate with food. Our evaluation with 21 participants shows that FoodChattAR turns eating into fun, while at the same time the food conveys relevant societal facts about itself. We contribute to the field of HCI by introducing EAVAs as a novel human-to-food interaction.