A Graphical Tool for the Creation of Behaviors in Virtual Worlds

2016 ◽  
pp. 65-93
Author(s):  
Andrea Corradini ◽  
Manish Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Graphical Interface ◽  
Virtual Characters ◽  
Graphical Tool ◽  
Novice Users ◽  
The Creation

Typically, the creation of AI-based behaviors for Non-Playing Characters (NPC) in computer games is carried out by people with specialized skills in the broad areas of design and programming. This book chapter presents Second Mind (SM), a digital solution that makes it possible for novice users to successfully author behaviors. In SM, authors can use a graphical interface to define the behaviors of virtual characters in response to interactions with players. Authors can easily endow NPCs with behavior capabilities that make them act in different possible roles such as e.g. shopkeepers, museum hosts, etc. A series of user tests with human subjects to evaluate the behavior authoring process shows that Second Mind is easy to understand and simplifies the process of behavior production.

A Graphical Tool for the Creation of Behaviors in Virtual Worlds

2020 ◽  
pp. 561-583
Author(s):  
Andrea Corradini ◽  
Manish Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Graphical Interface ◽  
Virtual Characters ◽  
Graphical Tool ◽  
Novice Users ◽  
The Creation

Typically, the creation of AI-based behaviors for Non-Playing Characters (NPC) in computer games is carried out by people with specialized skills in the broad areas of design and programming. This book chapter presents Second Mind (SM), a digital solution that makes it possible for novice users to successfully author behaviors. In SM, authors can use a graphical interface to define the behaviors of virtual characters in response to interactions with players. Authors can easily endow NPCs with behavior capabilities that make them act in different possible roles such as e.g. shopkeepers, museum hosts, etc. A series of user tests with human subjects to evaluate the behavior authoring process shows that Second Mind is easy to understand and simplifies the process of behavior production.

Presence, Environment, and Sound and the Role of Imagination

2019 ◽  
pp. 667-681
Author(s):  
Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
Keyword(s):  
Computer Games ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Actual World ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
The World ◽  
Visual Dimension ◽  
The Creation ◽  
First Person Shooter ◽  
Selection Of

Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard addresses the role of sound in the creation of presence in virtual and actual worlds. He argues that imagination is a central part of the generation and selection of perceptual hypotheses—models of the world in which we can act—that emerge from what Grimshaw-Aagaard calls the “exo-environment” (the sensory input) and the “endo-environment” (the cognitive input). Grimshaw-Aagaard further divides the exo-environment into a primarily auditory and a primarily visual dimension and he deals with the actual world of his own apartment and the virtual world of first-person-shooter computer games in order to exemplify how we perceptually construct an environment that allows for the creation of presence.

scholarly journals Electrodermal Response in Gaming

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Christopher Westland
Keyword(s):  
Computer Games ◽  
Emotional Response ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Skin Resistance ◽  
The Body ◽  
Electrodermal Response ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Measuring Devices ◽  
History Of ◽  
Body Resistance

Steady improvements in technologies that measure human emotional response offer new possibilities for making computer games more immersive. This paper reviews the history of designs a particular branch of affective technologies that acquire electrodermal response readings from human subjects. Electrodermal response meters have gone through continual improvements to better measure these nervous responses, but still fall short of the capabilities of today's technology. Electrodermal response traditionally have been labor intensive. Protocols and transcription of subject responses were recorded on separate documents, forcing constant shifts of attention between scripts, electrodermal measuring devices and of observations and subject responses. These problems can be resolved by collecting more information and integrating it in a computer interface that is, by adding relevant sensors in addition to the basic electrodermal resistance reading to untangle (1) body resistance; (2) skin resistance; (3) grip movements; other (4) factors affecting the neural processing for regulation of the body. A device that solves these problems is presented and discussed. It is argued that the electrodermal response datastreams can be enriched through the use of added sensors and a digital acquisition and processing of information, which should further experimentation and use of the technology.

Believable and Effective AI Agents in Virtual Worlds

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iskander Umarov ◽  
Maxim Mozgovoy
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Virtual Agents ◽  
High Ability ◽  
Topic Area ◽  
Human Likeness ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The Creation

The rapid development of complex virtual worlds (most notably, in 3D computer and video games) introduces new challenges for the creation of virtual agents, controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Two important subproblems in this topic area which need to be addressed are (a) believability and (b) effectiveness of agents’ behavior, i.e., human-likeness of the characters and high ability to achieving their own goals. In this paper, the authors study current approaches to believability and effectiveness of AI behavior in virtual worlds. They examine the concepts of believability and effectiveness, and analyze several successful attempts to address these challenges.

scholarly journals Exploring Intrinsic Gender Identity Using Second Life

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Maria Mitra ◽  
Paul Golz
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Novice Users ◽  
Gender Specific

Virtual worlds (VWs) provide an environment to understand and explore notions of gender and identity, particularly given the ability for users to experiment with gender in online worlds. Our study analyses gender identity using the virtual space of Second Life (SL) to explore experiences and responses to gender in an avatar. We introduced 46 novice users to the VW of SL in order to see if real life gender influenced their choices of avatar. Participants selected the gender of their original avatar and once they were used to SL, they were then asked to change the gender of that avatar. We used mixed methods research consisting of paper based questionnaires (n=34) and focus groups (n=46) conducted in SL. Nearly all participants chose an initial avatar that reflected their real-life gender with females (n=22) reporting higher levels of identification with this initial avatar. Females were significantly more concerned with the gender-specific appearance of their initial avatar. On swapping gender, females reported higher levels of discomfort and many changed back before 7 minutes. Males (n=24) did not report significant discomfort with their changed-gender avatar and did not revert back to their original avatar as quickly. Our findings suggest that female participants in this study tended to reinforce gender binaries through such things as clothing, hairstyles and behaviors of their avatars. Male participants were less likely to experience discomfort through changing the gender of their avatar (with the males noting they still perceived an avatar with a female appearance as male).

scholarly journals Supporting Soundscape Design in Virtual Environments with Content-based Audio Retrieval

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Janer
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Principal Characteristics ◽  
Computer Assisted Design ◽  
Audio Retrieval ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
On Line ◽  
The Creation

The computer-assisted design of soundscapes for virtual environments has received far less attention than the creation of graphical content. In this “think piece” we briefly introduce the principal characteristics of a framework under development that aims towards the creation of an automatic sonification of virtual worlds. As a starting point, the proposed system is based on an on-line collaborative sound repository that, together with content-based audio retrieval tools, assists the search of sounds to be associated with 3D models or scenes.

scholarly journals Association of Game Events with Facial Animations of Computer-Controlled Virtual Characters Based on Probabilistic Human Reaction Modeling

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (16) ◽  
pp. 5636
Author(s):  
Wafaa Alsaggaf ◽  
Georgios Tsaramirsis ◽  
Norah Al-Malki ◽  
Fazal Qudus Khan ◽  
Miadah Almasry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Virtual Agents ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Virtual Character ◽  
Virtual Characters ◽  
Computer Controlled ◽  
Human Player

Computer-controlled virtual characters are essential parts of most virtual environments and especially computer games. Interaction between these virtual agents and human players has a direct impact on the believability of and immersion in the application. The facial animations of these characters are a key part of these interactions. The player expects the elements of the virtual world to act in a similar manner to the real world. For example, in a board game, if the human player wins, he/she would expect the computer-controlled character to be sad. However, the reactions, more specifically, the facial expressions of virtual characters in most games are not linked with the game events. Instead, they have pre-programmed or random behaviors without any understanding of what is really happening in the game. In this paper, we propose a virtual character facial expression probabilistic decision model that will determine when various facial animations should be played. The model was developed by studying the facial expressions of human players while playing a computer videogame that was also developed as part of this research. The model is represented in the form of trees with 15 extracted game events as roots and 10 associated animations of facial expressions with their corresponding probability of occurrence. Results indicated that only 1 out of 15 game events had a probability of producing an unexpected facial expression. It was found that the “win, lose, tie” game events have more dominant associations with the facial expressions than the rest of game events, followed by “surprise” game events that occurred rarely, and finally, the “damage dealing” events.

scholarly journals Virtual Worlds, the IRB and a User's Bill of Rights

1970 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Stanton
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Preliminary Version

Virtual worlds provide a vibrant and exciting new venue for the conduct of social research. New social phenomena have emerged in the context of these worlds as individuals and groups use the worlds’ social communication tools to overcome limitations of time and distance. Yet these worlds also pose some novel ethical problems for social researchers who wish to conduct their work in these contexts. The present paper discusses ethical dimensions of research in virtual worlds in order to uncover some of these novel problems. The paper reports and analyzes a case study in which the author participated in a virtual world research study. The paper discusses a preliminary version of a virtual world subject’s bill of rights that can serve as the basis for further discussion among social researchers. The paper concludes with recommendations for virtual worlds researchers on strategies for working with their institutional review boards (human subjects ethics review) to obtain approval for their research proposals.

scholarly journals Selling the selling point

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Plesner ◽  
Maja Horst
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Cultural Innovation ◽  
Sociology Of Expectations ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Selling Point ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Early Phases

This article explores how virtual worlds are rhetorically constructed as obvious, innovative spaces for communication about architecture. It is argued that the marketization of an innovative use of new media platforms happens in early phases of the innovation processes, and the success of new media technologies such as virtual worlds hinges on the creation of expectations, which are intertwined with the discursive construction of future users. Drawing on the sociology of expectations and the sociology of technology, the article argues that the configuration of expected users is a central part of the communication about the innovation. It is demonstrated that the creation of markets does not begin when innovations such as Virtual Worlds Architecture are settled, but is intertwined with early expectations about their promises and limitations. Rather than seeing virtual worlds as settled and secluded sites for social and cultural innovation in themselves, we have examined how actors involved with them try to sell them as such. A crucial challenge for these actors turns out to be the interpretative flexibility of the innovation, since arguments designed to attract one kind of expected user might problematize the configuration of other types of users.

scholarly journals The role of musical instruments in the globalization of music

Comunicar ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (34) ◽  
pp. 83-89
Author(s):  
Kazadi wa-Mukuma
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Musical Sounds ◽  
Different Cultures

In recent years, the term «globalization» has become a catchword in many languages. It is an open-ended process that implies different levels of unification. In music, attempts have been made by individual and collectively by artists from different cultures in the world. In each case, the process has been focused on the unification of musical sounds that can be identified within the global community. Technology is successful with the duplication of sounds of musical instruments for computer games, but the creation of zones of cultural interaction as defined by actual musical instruments is presenting challenges with the unification of cultural values into one global community. In music, globalization implies «world music» that is articulated as a hybrid product. The process of globalization is readily realized electronically, with sounds of musical instruments, but the creation of zones of cultural interaction, with the same musical instruments, will require a mixture of configuration of factors ranging from ecology to language and cultural manifestation. The objective of zones of cultural interaction is not to unify style of music, but through globalization is the sharing of actual musical instruments. To accomplish this objective, geographic spaces will have to surmount the globalization of the world ecology, language, and culture. En los últimos años, el término «globalización» se ha convertido en una palabra clave para muchas lenguas. Con él se hace referencia a un proceso abierto que implica diferentes niveles de unificación. En el campo de la música, han participado en él, tanto de forma individual como colectiva, artistas de diferentes culturas del mundo. En todos los casos, el proceso se ha centrado en la unificación de sonidos musicales que puedan identificarse por una comunidad global. En este sentido, la tecnología ha conseguido con éxito duplicar los sonidos de los instrumentos musicales para los videojuegos, pero la creación de zonas de interacción cultural, como las definidas por los instrumentos musicales actuales, se enfrenta a una serie de retos derivados de la unificación de los valores culturales en una comunidad global. El proceso de globalización se puede desarrollar fácilmente de manera electrónica con sonidos de instrumentos musicales, la creación de las zonas de interacción cultural con los mismos instrumentos musicales necesitará que se den además una serie de factores, que van desde lo ecológico hasta lo lingüístico y cultural. El principal objetivo de las zonas de interacción cultural no es el de unificar el estilo de música, sino el de compartir los instrumentos musicales actuales a través de la globalización. Para cumplir este objetivo, los territorios en los que se produzca esa interacción tendrán que completar este proceso globalizador atendiendo a criterios ecológicos, lingüísticos y culturales.

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