As mentioned before, animated agents are characters that offer the user help, guidance, or support in the use of a specific computer application, as a human tutor or assistant would.

The agent's goal is to offer a friendly, helpful, human-like interface that simulates real, live help, which would promote a positive attitude towards that computer program and a higher degree of self-confidence on the part of the user.

These interfaces can come in different shapes, sizes, colors, etc. For example, a program geared towards young kids to teach them basic geometry, could make use of Coney, an animated shape that can be used as an agent to guide or help kids learn about shapes.

If the computer program is an educational software dealing with chemistry, science, or Math, designed for high-shcoolers, and trying to make learning in that area more exciting and fun, then an animated agent like Einstein, the Professor, would be more appropriate for that target audience and that subject matter.

These agents are produced by a number of companies and research groups. Basicaly, the agent can be built into that program as an integral part of it, or the agent can be an independent entity that is added to an already existing program.

For instance, a program like Design-a-Plant, developed at North Carolina University to explore the use of animated agents in the teaching of Biology, makes use of an agent called Herman the Bug, that was especially designed for that program as part of ongoing research activities. In a case like that, both the program and the agent are designed from scratch to fulfill the educational objectives set up by the developers.

On the other hand, agents like the ones using Microsoft Agent technology are independent entities, and they can be an added component to already existing programs. These agents can be activated using Visual Basic commands, JScript commands, and they can run both on computer applications and on webpages. In this case, the agent is an external component that adds to the original functionality and purpose of the program, so that an already existing application can be "repurposed" to be used with animated agents.

In situations like the ones above, the addition of an agent has to be carefully planned and thought out. The animated agent will not be a "magic" component that will add effectiveness and appeal to the program. Among other things, the role the agent has in that program will be essential to determine how positive (or not) the use or addition of an animated agent will be to enhance the computer-human interaction dimension.