arXiv subjects

Mirjana Prpa

Publications and source records attributed to Mirjana Prpa.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Can I Trust My Body? A Three-Year Autoethnography of ChatGPT's Place in My Support System for Panic Attacks

People increasingly seek mental health support from large language models, yet little is known about their use across years of recurrent panic. We present a three-year analytic autoethnography of the first author's ChatGPT use while living with panic disorder, drawing on conversations, personal records, and accounts from friends or family members and professionals. Narrative analysis traces how my questions shaped ChatGPT's roles and how earlier experiences influenced later responses to symptoms. Familiar explanations could make sensations less frightening, while changed symptoms renewed fears of serious illness. During sudden panic, advice could be difficult to follow, and some replies prompted further checking. Conversations could end while symptoms, checking, or help-seeking continued. We propose trajectory-level safety during and after panic: usable advice (Fit), a stopping point for repeated checking and reassurance seeking (Closure), and useful understanding and human support that remain available over time (Continuity).

cs.HC↗

arXiv2026

Toward Scalable Patient Safety Training: A Prototype for Root Cause Analysis Simulation With AI Virtual Avatars

Patient safety training is essential for preparing healthcare professionals to identify, investigate, and prevent adverse events. However, conventional simulation-based approaches often require substantial faculty time, physical resources, and standardized facilitation. This paper presents a prototype AI-powered simulation platform designed to support more scalable patient safety training through root cause analysis (RCA). The system provides a Unity-based 3D simulation environment, which allows trainees to investigate an ICU adverse event by interviewing five virtual team members represented as AI-powered avatars. Each avatar is driven by a large language model (LLM) agent with role-specific knowledge and variable states of mind. Moreover, emotional text-to-speech and AI-supported facial and body animation enable more realistic and immersive interactions. After completing the simulation, trainees submit a written RCA report and receive rubric-guided formative and summative feedback automatically generated by an LLM-based assessment component. The prototype is built to support patient safety training for healthcare professionals, focusing on skills in communication, investigation, thinking, and analysis, with low recurring instructional burden. We describe the design of the platform, its core technical components, and an RCA case based on a published ICU scenario. This work demonstrates the feasibility of integrating generative AI into immersive simulation for scalable patient safety education.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

Understanding Down Syndrome Stereotypes in LLM-Based Personas

We present a case study of Persona-L, a system that leverages large language models (LLMs) and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to model personas of people with Down syndrome. Existing approaches to persona creation can often lead to oversimplified or stereotypical profiles of people with Down Syndrome. To that end, we built stereotype detection capabilities into Persona-L. Through interviews with caregivers and healthcare professionals (N=10), we examine how Down Syndrome stereotypes could manifest in both, content and delivery of LLMs, and interface design. Our findings show the challenges in stereotypes definition, and reveal the potential stereotype emergence from the training data, interface design, and the tone of LLM output. This highlights the need for participatory methods that capture the heterogeneity of lived experiences of people with Down Syndrome.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

Your voice is your voice: Supporting Self-expression through Speech Generation and LLMs in Augmented and Alternative Communication

In this paper, we present Speak Ease: an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system to support users' expressivity by integrating multimodal input, including text, voice, and contextual cues (conversational partner and emotional tone), with large language models (LLMs). Speak Ease combines automatic speech recognition (ASR), context-aware LLM-based outputs, and personalized text-to-speech technologies to enable more personalized, natural-sounding, and expressive communication. Through an exploratory feasibility study and focus group evaluation with speech and language pathologists (SLPs), we assessed Speak Ease's potential to enable expressivity in AAC. The findings highlight the priorities and needs of AAC users and the system's ability to enhance user expressivity by supporting more personalized and contextually relevant communication. This work provides insights into the use of multimodal inputs and LLM-driven features to improve AAC systems and support expressivity.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

ELLMA-T: an Embodied LLM-agent for Supporting English Language Learning in Social VR

Many people struggle with learning a new language, with traditional tools falling short in providing contextualized learning tailored to each learner's needs. The recent development of large language models (LLMs) and embodied conversational agents (ECAs) in social virtual reality (VR) provide new opportunities to practice language learning in a contextualized and naturalistic way that takes into account the learner's language level and needs. To explore this opportunity, we developed ELLMA-T, an ECA that leverages an LLM (GPT-4) and situated learning framework for supporting learning English language in social VR (VRChat). Drawing on qualitative interviews (N=12), we reveal the potential of ELLMA-T to generate realistic, believable and context-specific role plays for agent-learner interaction in VR, and LLM's capability to provide initial language assessment and continuous feedback to learners. We provide five design implications for the future development of LLM-based language agents in social VR.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Hybrid Drawing Solutions in AR Bitmap-to-Vector Techniques on 3D Surfaces

Recent advancements in augmented reality and virtual reality have significantly enhanced workflows for drawing 3D objects. Despite these technological strides, existing AR tools often lack the necessary precision and struggle to maintain quality when scaled, posing challenges for larger-scale drawing tasks. This paper introduces a novel AR tool that uniquely integrates bitmap drawing and vectorization techniques. This integration allows engineers to perform rapid, real-time drawings directly on 3D models, with the capability to vectorize the data for scalable accuracy and editable points, ensuring no loss in fidelity when modifying or resizing the drawings. We conducted user studies involving professional engineers, designers, and contractors to evaluate the tool's integration into existing workflows, its usability, and its impact on project outcomes. The results demonstrate that our enhancements significantly improve the efficiency of drawing processes. Specifically, the ability to perform quick, editable, and scalable drawings directly on 3D models not only enhances productivity but also ensures adaptability across various project sizes and complexities.

cs.GR↗

arXiv2024

Persona-L has Entered the Chat: Leveraging LLM and Ability-based Framework for Personas of People with Complex Needs

We present Persona-L, a novel approach for creating personas using Large Language Models (LLMs) and an ability-based framework, specifically designed to improve the representation of users with complex needs. Traditional methods of persona creation often fall short of accurately depicting the dynamic and diverse nature of complex needs, resulting in oversimplified or stereotypical profiles. Persona-L enables users to create and interact with personas through a chat interface. Persona-L was evaluated through interviews with UX designers (N=6), where we examined its effectiveness in reflecting the complexities of lived experiences of people with complex needs. We report our findings that indicate the potential of Persona-L to increase empathy and understanding of complex needs while also revealing the need for transparency of data used in persona creation, the role of the language and tone, and the need to provide a more balanced presentation of abilities with constraints.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2024

Safe Guard: an LLM-agent for Real-time Voice-based Hate Speech Detection in Social Virtual Reality

In this paper, we present Safe Guard, an LLM-agent for the detection of hate speech in voice-based interactions in social VR (VRChat). Our system leverages Open AI GPT and audio feature extraction for real-time voice interactions. We contribute a system design and evaluation of the system that demonstrates the capability of our approach in detecting hate speech, and reducing false positives compared to currently available approaches. Our results indicate the potential of LLM-based agents in creating safer virtual environments and set the groundwork for further advancements in LLM-driven moderation approaches.

eess.AS↗

arXiv2024

Human and LLM-Based Voice Assistant Interaction: An Analytical Framework for User Verbal and Nonverbal Behaviors

Recent progress in large language model (LLM) technology has significantly enhanced the interaction experience between humans and voice assistants (VAs). This project aims to explore a user's continuous interaction with LLM-based VA (LLM-VA) during a complex task. We recruited 12 participants to interact with an LLM-VA during a cooking task, selected for its complexity and the requirement for continuous interaction. We observed that users show both verbal and nonverbal behaviors, though they know that the LLM-VA can not capture those nonverbal signals. Despite the prevalence of nonverbal behavior in human-human communication, there is no established analytical methodology or framework for exploring it in human-VA interactions. After analyzing 3 hours and 39 minutes of video recordings, we developed an analytical framework with three dimensions: 1) behavior characteristics, including both verbal and nonverbal behaviors, 2) interaction stages--exploration, conflict, and integration--that illustrate the progression of user interactions, and 3) stage transition throughout the task. This analytical framework identifies key verbal and nonverbal behaviors that provide a foundation for future research and practical applications in optimizing human and LLM-VA interactions.

cs.HC↗