Japanese researchers have found that people form emotional bonds with talking software if it mimics their own voices.
… the character hummed back sounds that mimicked characteristic features, such as the rhythm, intonation, loudness and pitch of the user's voice. The extent of the mimicry varied.
The users then rated the character in areas such as cooperation, learning ability, task-achievement, comfort, friendliness, and sympathy. The animated character scored highest on all these factors when its voice was mimicking about 80 per cent of the user's voice.
