Super Kawaii Vocalics: Amplifying the "Cute" Factor in Computer Voice
This work addresses the problem of enhancing emotional and social engagement in human-computer interaction for users, particularly in domains like gaming or assistive technologies, by introducing a novel focus on vocal cuteness, though it is incremental as it builds on existing kawaii research.
The study tackled the problem of formalizing the science of 'kawaii' (cute) in computer voices, which had been previously focused on visual aspects, by exploring vocal elements like fundamental and formant frequencies; they found 'sweet spots' for enhancing cuteness in text-to-speech and game character voices, with a sample size of 512 participants, but noted limitations such as ceiling effects for certain voices.
"Kawaii" is the Japanese concept of cute, which carries sociocultural connotations related to social identities and emotional responses. Yet, virtually all work to date has focused on the visual side of kawaii, including in studies of computer agents and social robots. In pursuit of formalizing the new science of kawaii vocalics, we explored what elements of voice relate to kawaii and how they might be manipulated, manually and automatically. We conducted a four-phase study (grand N = 512) with two varieties of computer voices: text-to-speech (TTS) and game character voices. We found kawaii "sweet spots" through manipulation of fundamental and formant frequencies, but only for certain voices and to a certain extent. Findings also suggest a ceiling effect for the kawaii vocalics of certain voices. We offer empirical validation of the preliminary kawaii vocalics model and an elementary method for manipulating kawaii perceptions of computer voice.