This research introduces a groundbreaking Multimodal Empathetic Response Generation (MERG) framework that expands emotional AI capabilities beyond text-only interactions.

• Integrates text, speech, and facial expressions to deliver more human-like, emotionally nuanced responses
• Establishes the first avatar-based benchmark for evaluating multimodal empathetic systems
• Creates a comprehensive framework for developing and testing emotionally intelligent virtual assistants
• Provides practical guidance for building support systems with enhanced emotional intelligence

For customer support teams, this research offers a path to developing more emotionally resonant virtual agents that can better understand and respond to user emotions, potentially increasing customer satisfaction and resolution rates.

Towards Multimodal Empathetic Response Generation: A Rich Text-Speech-Vision Avatar-based Benchmark