CONTENT-DRIVEN VIRTUAL AGENT FACILITATOR FOR ONLINE GROUP ACTIVITY

The disclosure is of a virtual agent (web based or robotic) for controlling group activities, such as learning and discussion. The aim is enhancing the effectivity of the activity by maintaining an effective, positive atmosphere and equitable participation. The agent applies multimodal input, comprising video and sound to monitor certain aspects of the group dynamics and their facets, pertaining to the users. Some aspects and facets thereof may trigger facilitation patterns, which may be performed using multimodal output. The agent uses a set of preset behavior, emotional patterns and facilitation patterns. The agent is trained using a dataset of recorded group activities and machine learning algorithms, and may apply online learning for optimization and personalization of the facilitation patterns and the associated enticers.