Teamwork , Communication , and Planning in ACT-R Agents Engaging in Urban Combat in Virtual Environments

Agents must be able to effectively employ teamwork, coordination, navigation, and planning to succeed in multi-agents virtual environments. These high-level abilities depend on reliable navigation and perception of the environment. We present cognitively plausible agents used for training in virtual simulations of Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT). These cognitive agents are developed using the ACT-R cognitive architecture, an architecture used to model human performance in a wide variety of psychological experiments. These agents use their real-time perceptions to shape their interactions with other agents and human players on both the friendly and opposing sides of the conflict. Planning is accomplished on-line by combining schematic plans with the current context, resulting in flexible and appropriate action. Roles within plans are negotiated between agents on an as-needed basis while plans are selected based on the availability of other agents.