emotionally responsive robotic avatars in virtual worlds
DESCRIPTION
How Daden have implemented Wolverhampton University's E-AI architecture to drive avatars in Second Life and model emotional responseTRANSCRIPT
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Emotionally Responsive Robotic
Avatars asCharacters in Virtual
Worlds
David BurdenDaden Limited
Stuart SlaterUniversity of
Wolverhampton
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Evolving UI Paradigms
Teletype
Character VDU
Windows
Audio-Visual
VirtualWorlds
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Non-Player Characters (NPCs)
Task focussed Usually no life beyond
the user Privileged access to
information Common in
MMORPGs, less common in Virtual Worlds
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Virtual Worlds
Socially focussed Can be persistent Access the world on the
same basis as a human Visually can be identical
to a human user's avatar
Roles include receptionists/greeters, salesmen, actors, tutors
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Emotional Chatbots
Given that computer controlled avatars (robotars) can access all of the gesture and emotional expressions of a human controlled avatar, how important is the use of such emotions with computer controlled avatars?
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Altair Robotar Architecture
libsecondlife altair #2
Second LifeServers
ASML/AAML via web service
Perl API Bus
Human User
BotIF altair #1
Other Engines
Emotion Engine
NavigationEngine
Discourse AIML
Chatbot Engine
Web Services
Server (on web) (Perl)
PC or Server (on web) (C#)
SL Interface Discourse RDF
Engine
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
E-AI Architecture
Developed by University of Wolverhampton
Followed assessment of CogAff7, Emile8,SOAR9 and Tok10
Grounded in psychology and psychology research and models
Intended for developers who already have a broader bot architecture
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Emotions Modelled
Happy Sad Fear Disgust Anger Surprise/Startle
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
E-AI Architecture
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Previous Implementations
Quake-3 combat bots
Over 300 combat situations
Got around 20% less kills, won a below average (almost half) number of matches
Results clearly supported the assumption that the emotionally enhanced bots, performed less well in combat situations.
Lack of combat effectiveness was partly attributed to the e-Bot running away from combat situations when experiencing fear, and often froze for a second (startle response) when an attacking bot came round a corner.
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
E-AI Architecture with Altair
Object and avatar appearance/ disappearance(ASML)
1. Surprise & Startle vs EAD2. Explicit vs AIML3. Implicit vs EAD/Chat Lookup=> AEML
Avatar expressions/ gesture/movement/chat(AAML)
Not yet modelled
Not yet modelled
Fuzzy mixing of emotional states=> AEML
Reason for last state stored, and accessible from AIML
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Additional Features
High Road vs Low Road Low-road (“gut”) response implemented close to
avatar in C#/BotIF High-road (“considered”) response implemented in
AIML, other side of a web service Moods
Each new emotion effects the on-going mood Moods have half-lives and decay over time
Habituation With repeated exposure the response to an emotional
stimulus can decrease/increase Each EAD trigger has an habituation factor
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Learnt Behaviour
Manual EAD Creation Time consuming No guarantee objects will have the right name Not scalable to “true” AI
Bot Learning Programme only “fundamental” responses, eg:
“Be fearful of things that hurt you” “Like things that give you money”
Bot then builds EAD as it experiences things in the world
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Demonstration Video
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
User Evaluation - Provisional
2 sessions of 10 – 16 students (Computer and Games courses)
Session 1:
Evaluate robotar with/without emotional gestures/expressions, but same chat responses
Most noted some difference Majority preferred “emotional” bot
Session 2:
Evaluate robotar with emotional expression and chat responses and without expression/chat responses
Almost all noted some difference Clear majority preferred “emotional” bot
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Conclusions
Virtual world robotars provide a greater challenge (and opportunity) than game NPCs
The E-AI architecture is a useful way of modelling emotions in avatars
E-AI can be used to support habituation and learnt behaviour
Initial user evaluation suggests that users prefer interacting with a more “emotional” avatar
© 2009 www.daden.co.uk
Emotionally Responsive Robotic
Avatars asCharacters in Virtual
Worlds
David BurdenDaden Limited
Stuart SlaterUniversity of
Wolverhampton