Darragh Higgins

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Darragh Higgins is a leading researcher at the intersection of human-computer interaction, virtual reality, and conversational AI. His work fundamentally explores how humans perceive and emotionally connect with synthetic agents, with a particular focus on voice realism and social presence. His most influential paper, "Sympathy for the digital: Influence of synthetic voice on affinity, social presence and empathy for photorealistic virtual humans" (2022, 73 citations), is a landmark study that investigates the critical "uncanny valley" effect of voice-appearance mismatch in virtual characters. This work revealed how mismatched synthetic voices can disrupt empathy and social connection, providing essential design guidelines for creating more believable and engaging virtual humans. Higgins also co-organized a Special Interest Group on developing theories of language use in interaction with conversational user interfaces (2023), demonstrating his leadership in shaping the theoretical foundations of how we converse with chatbots, voice assistants, and social robots. His research is vital for anyone designing more natural, trustworthy, and emotionally resonant digital companions.