Pedagogical Agents for Personalized Multi-user Virtual Environments*

Personalization is a key issue in adaptive virtual learning environments, which support interactive-engagement methods for learners. Recently there has been much progress on advanced graphicalinterfaces, but more progress is needed to fine tune and adapt such interfaces to end-user’s abilitiesand preferences. One of the emerging challenges in such an adaptive multi-user virtual environment(MUVE) is the development of personalized services such as personalized content management,user-models, or adaptive instant interaction. This paper uses agent technology as an effectiveframework for developing personalized services in a MUVE. The proposed framework is validatedby applying it to Virtual Singapura (VS), an agent augmented virtual environment designed toengage and motivate learners at the lower secondary level in Singapore as they learn importantscientific knowledge and skills.Keywords: personalization; pedagogical agents; multi-user virtual environments; Dempster–Shafer belief accumulation; user model