Interactive agents are powerful storytellers that contribute to people's well-being according to recent findings by the applicants. This reveals there is potential for interactive agents (commonly called robots, but also non-embodied examples such as chatbots) in terms of their appearance, behavior, and role in dementia. New technologies such as AI (TU/e, Fontys) and a deep understanding of dementia (Alzheimer Nederland) offer opportunities to develop more advanced behaviors and representations in interactive agents.
The EngD candidate will collaborate closely with the project partners (Tinybots, Philips, SARA robotics, and Fontys) and researchers already working on this topic. The candidate's specific focus will be on conversational AI within a chatbot or a robot to augment dementia care. Candidates should have a technical background and we welcome mixed academic disciplines (e.g., industrial design, computational linguistics, software engineering, human-computer interaction, computer science, electrical engineering).