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MyrrorBot: A Digital Assistant Based on Holistic User Models for Personalized Access to Online Services

Published: 16 August 2021 Publication History

Abstract

In this article, we present MyrrorBot, a personal digital assistant implementing a natural language interface that allows the users to: (i) access online services, such as music, video, news, andfood recommendations, in a personalized way, by exploiting a strategy for implicit user modeling called holistic user profiling; (ii) query their own user models, to inspect the features encoded in their profiles and to increase their awareness of the personalization process.
Basically, the system allows the users to formulate natural language requests related to their information needs. Such needs are roughly classified in two groups: quantified self-related needs (e.g., Did I sleep enough? Am I extrovert?) and personalized access to online services (e.g., Play a song I like). The intent recognition strategy implemented in the platform automatically identifies the intent expressed by the user and forwards the request to specific services and modules that generate an appropriate answer that fulfills the query.
In the experimental evaluation, we evaluated both qualitative (users’ acceptance of the system, usability) as well as quantitative (time required to complete basic tasks, effectiveness of the personalization strategy) aspects of the system, and the results showed that MyrrorBot can improve the way people access online services and applications. This leads to a more effective interaction and paves the way for further development of our system.

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cover image ACM Transactions on Information Systems
ACM Transactions on Information Systems  Volume 39, Issue 4
October 2021
482 pages
ISSN:1046-8188
EISSN:1558-2868
DOI:10.1145/3477247
Issue’s Table of Contents
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Publication History

Published: 16 August 2021
Accepted: 01 January 2021
Revised: 01 December 2020
Received: 01 May 2020
Published in TOIS Volume 39, Issue 4

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Author Tags

  1. Chatbots
  2. user models
  3. personalization
  4. recommender systems
  5. personal digital assistants

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