As emerging technologies continue to grow in complexity and availability, the question of how to successfully integrate such technologies into our society is attracting growing research interest. Social robots, virtual agents, and (explainable) artificial intelligence models are increasingly being implemented in healthcare systems, in entertainment or retail, or in educational settings as a means to reduce burden on human workers and maximise user experience.

Education is a particularly relevant context for the implementation of advanced robotic, virtual, or AI systems. Teachers around the world suffer from overcrowded classrooms, limited resources, and diverse student needs. These challenges are being especially highlighted in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, there is a clear need to develop and implement effective technological solutions into both virtual and physical classroom settings. If successful, such systems could help in reducing teacher burden, providing personalised learning experiences, and minimising costs.

The ANIMATAS project is aimed at understanding human-machine interaction in the context of education. Three broad research areas are targeted:
1) understanding perception of robotic or virtual agents,
2) development of social learning mechanisms, and
3) personalised adaptation of agents to unstructured social interactions.

The goal of this symposium is to bring together the outcomes of each of these areas and present relevant research findings. Through this symposium, we hope to foster interdisciplinary discussions on topics relevant to embodiment, social learning, and personalisation and adaptation within the context of education.