Close encounters with the virtual kind: Defining a human-virtual agent coexistence framework

Virtual agent research has evolved into a substantial body of work, albeit one with a fragmented structure and overlapping, and at times inconsistent, definitions and results. The current paper presents a computational literature review of 1865 academic journal publications and conference proceedings from 1995 to 2022 using Latent Dirichlet Allocation to understand the publication trends in the field, its intellectual structure, and how topics within virtual agent research have evolved and relate to each other. Our results point to a model of 16 topics as best representing the current state of the research landscape. We present descriptions of these topics, as well as topic dynamics and networks, in order to provide a clear picture of the current state of the field. We then organise these topics into a Human-Virtual Agent Coexistence Framework, identifying current trends and opportunities for future research.

Automated summary

Virtual agent research has formed a substantial body of work, with fragmented structure and overlapping definitions and results. This study used Latent Dirichlet Allocation to analyze 1865 publications from 1995 to 2022, revealing 16 topics that represent the current research landscape. By organizing these topics into a Human-Virtual Agent Coexistence Framework, this study identifies current trends and future research opportunities.