We present a new framework called KorraAI for conceiving and building embodied conversational agents (ECAs). Our framework models ECAs' behavior considering contextual information, for example, about environment and interaction time, and uncertain information provided by the human interaction partner. Moreover, agents built with KorraAI can show proactive behavior, as they can initiate interactions with human partners. For these purposes, KorraAI exploits probabilistic programming. Probabilistic models in KorraAI are used to model its behavior and interactions with the user. They enable adaptation to the user's preferences and a certain degree of indeterminism in the ECAs to achieve more natural behavior. Human-like internal states, such as moods, preferences, and emotions (e.g., surprise), can be modeled in KorraAI with distributions and Bayesian networks. These models can evolve over time, even without interaction with the user. ECA models are implemented as plugins and share a common interface. This enables ECA designers to focus more on the character they are modeling and less on the technical details, as well as to store and exchange ECA models. Several applications of KorraAI ECAs are possible, such as virtual sales agents, customer service agents, virtual companions, entertainers, or tutors.

翻译：我们提出一种名为KorraAI的新型框架，用于构思和构建具身对话代理（ECAs）。该框架通过考虑环境信息（如场景与交互时间）及人类交互伙伴提供的不确定性信息，对ECAs的行为进行建模。此外，基于KorraAI构建的代理能够展现主动行为（即主动发起与人类伙伴的交互）。为实现这些目标，KorraAI采用概率编程技术。框架中的概率模型用于建模代理行为及其与用户的交互过程，使其能够适应用户偏好，并通过引入一定程度的非确定性来增强ECAs行为的自然性。诸如情绪、偏好及情感（如惊讶）等类人内部状态，可通过分布模型与贝叶斯网络在KorraAI中实现建模。这些模型可随时间演化（即使未与用户交互）。ECAs模型以插件形式实现并共享统一接口，使设计者能够更专注于角色建模而非技术细节，同时便于模型存储与交换。KorraAI-ECAs可应用于多个场景，例如虚拟销售代理、客服代理、虚拟伴侣、娱乐角色或教学助手等。