Leashing the AlphaWolves: mixing user direction with autonomous emotion in a pack of semi-autonomous virtual characters

We present a system in which computer-graphical virtual characters may be controlled by a user and also remain "in character." The system allows the user to have high-level control over the actions of a character, while the emotional state of the character is autonomously maintained by the computer. We show how this system functioned as part of the AlphaWolf installation, presented in the Emerging Technologies program at SIGGRAPH 2001. Results from a 32-subject human user study support the hypothesis that users could control a character's actions without sacrificing its realistic autonomous personality. This system is appropriate to the control of computer-graphical entities that are meant to have personalities distinct from those of the humans that direct them.

[1]  Charles F. Rose,et al.  Verbs and adverbs: multidimensional motion interpolation using radial basis functions , 1999 .

[2]  Forrest,et al.  Emotion-triggered Learning for Autonomous RobotsSandra , 1998 .

[3]  Craig W. Reynolds Flocks, herds, and schools: a distributed behavioral model , 1998 .

[4]  C A Smith Dimensions of appraisal and physiological response in emotion. , 1989, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[5]  Norman I. Badler,et al.  The EMOTE model for effort and shape , 2000, SIGGRAPH.

[6]  W. S. Reilly,et al.  Believable Social and Emotional Agents. , 1996 .

[7]  J. Russell The psychology of facial expression: Reading emotions from and into faces: Resurrecting a dimensional-contextual perspective , 1997 .

[8]  Bruce Blumberg,et al.  Sympathetic interfaces: using a plush toy to direct synthetic characters , 1999, CHI '99.

[9]  Milind Tambe,et al.  Adjustable autonomy in real-world multi-agent environments , 2001, AGENTS '01.

[10]  Daniel Thalmann,et al.  Autonomous Virtual Actors Based on Virtual Sensors , 1997, Creating Personalities for Synthetic Actors.

[11]  Prem Kalra,et al.  Communicating with virtual characters , 1998 .

[12]  W. B. Davis,et al.  The wolves of Mount McKinley , 1944 .

[13]  A. Sinclair BEHAVIOUR OF WOLVES, DOGS AND RELATED CANIDS , 1973 .

[14]  Mark Steedman,et al.  Animated conversation: rule-based generation of facial expression, gesture & spoken intonation for multiple conversational agents , 1994, SIGGRAPH.

[15]  Craig A. Smith,et al.  Dimensions of appraisal and physiological response in emotion. , 1989, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[16]  R. Schenkel,et al.  Submission: Its Features and Function in the Wolf and Dog , 1967 .

[17]  Craig W. Reynolds Flocks, herds, and schools: a distributed behavioral model , 1987, SIGGRAPH.

[18]  Michael Boyle Johnson Wavesworld: a testbed for constructing three-dimensional semi-autonomous animated characters , 1996 .

[19]  C. Breazeal Sociable Machines: Expressive Social Ex-change Between Humans and Robots , 2000 .

[20]  Mazin Assanie Directable Synthetic Characters , 2002 .

[21]  Matthew Brand,et al.  Voice puppetry , 1999, SIGGRAPH.

[22]  Bruce Blumberg,et al.  Multi-level direction of autonomous creatures for real-time virtual environments , 1995, SIGGRAPH.

[23]  H. Schlosberg Three dimensions of emotion. , 1954, Psychological review.

[24]  Juan David Velásquez,et al.  When Robots Weep: Emotional Memories and Decision-Making , 1998, AAAI/IAAI.

[25]  E. Vesterinen,et al.  Affective Computing , 2009, Encyclopedia of Biometrics.

[26]  Demetri Terzopoulos,et al.  Artificial fishes: Autonomous locomotion, perception, behavior, and learning in a simulated physical world , 1994 .

[27]  Sean A. Spence,et al.  Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain , 1995 .

[28]  Damian A. Isla,et al.  Creature Smarts: The Art and Architecture of a Virtual Brain , 2001 .

[29]  Demetri Terzopoulos,et al.  Artificial Fishes: Autonomous Locomotion, Perception, Behavior, and Learning in a Simulated Physical World , 1994, Artificial Life.

[30]  J. Russell,et al.  The psychology of facial expression: Frontmatter , 1997 .

[31]  P. Maes,et al.  Old tricks, new dogs: ethology and interactive creatures , 1997 .

[32]  P. Ekman An argument for basic emotions , 1992 .

[33]  C. Darwin The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals , .

[34]  K. Chang,et al.  Embodiment in conversational interfaces: Rea , 1999, CHI '99.

[35]  Bruce Blumberg,et al.  Synthetic social relationships in animated virtual characters , 2002 .

[36]  W. Scott Neal Reilly,et al.  An Architecture for Action, Emotion, and Social Behavior , 1992, MAAMAW.

[37]  L. David Mech,et al.  The Wolves of Denali , 1998 .

[38]  Ken Perlin,et al.  Improv: a system for scripting interactive actors in virtual worlds , 1996, SIGGRAPH.

[39]  Jessica K. Hodgins,et al.  Adapting simulated behaviors for new characters , 1997, SIGGRAPH.

[40]  Norman I. Badler,et al.  Towards Behavioral Consistency in Animated Agents , 2000, DEFORM/AVATARS.

[41]  Barbara Hayes-Roth,et al.  Directed improvisation with animated puppets , 1995, CHI 95 Conference Companion.

[42]  J. Stainer,et al.  The Emotions , 1922, Nature.

[43]  Jean Wineman,et al.  Gorillas in the bits , 1997, Proceedings of IEEE 1997 Annual International Symposium on Virtual Reality.

[44]  Steve Strassmann Semi-Autonomous Animated Actors , 1994, AAAI.

[45]  M. Fox,et al.  Behaviour of wolves, dogs and related canids , 1971 .

[46]  A. Damasio Descartes' error: emotion, reason, and the human brain. avon books , 1994 .