Teaming up humans with autonomous synthetic characters

1. Teaming up humans with autonomous synthetic characters • R. Prada, AI Communicationsvol.21, pp.80-1032008 소프트웨어 에이전트 2009. 06. 06 이승현

2. Contents • Introduction • Fundamentals of Group Dynamics • Group • Interaction • Group structure • SGD Model • Design specification • Case study: Perfect Circle • Setting • Result • Conclusion

3. Introduction • Issue on synthetic characters • Making characters believable and creating the illusion of life • Problems • Lack of necessary social skills to interact in a group • Limited role and autonomy • Goal • Create team-oriented autonomous agents with social skills • Create characters which are able to behave coherently with the group’s composition, context and structure • Theoretical basis • Human social psychological sciences

4. Group Fundamentals of Group Dynamics • Definition of group • Interaction • Interdependency • Mutual perception and identification • Group dynamics • System and Interaction theories[Cartwright and Zander, 1968]

5. Interaction Fundamentals of Group Dynamics • Interaction Process Analysis[Bales, 1950] • Two classes of problems

6. Group Structure Fundamentals of Group Dynamics • Main influential factors on group structure[Jesuino, 2000] • Structure of communication • Structure of social power • Structure of social attraction • Social Power[French & Raven, 1968] : Potential influence exerted by a social agent on a person

7. Group Structure Fundamentals of Group Dynamics • Social attraction : affective attitude of each member of the group towards the other members [Moreno, 1934] • Balance Theory [Heider, 1946] : people have to maintain balanced cognitive configurations • Concept of a POX triple which represents a cognitive configuration Stable POX cognitive configurations Unstable POX cognitive configurations

8. Principle and Target SGD Model • Synthetic Group Dynamics(SGD) Model • Principle • Must be aware of the other members and the group itself • Able to build proper knowledge regarding group’s social structure • Able to use the knowledge to drive its behavior • Target groups • Group = Human user + several autonomous synthetic characters • Small groups with only a few members • Groups without a strong organizational structure

9. Overview SGD Model • Structure of SGD model(overview)

10. Individual Level SGD Model • Design of individual • Agent’s abilities • Levels of expertise of which agent can perform • Used when define agent’s position in a group • Agent’s personality(Five Factor Model, 1996) • Extraversion : Dominant initiative of the agent : Influence on the agent’s frequency of interaction • Agreeableness : Socio-emotional orientation of the agent ex) Agreeable agent, less agreeable agents • Knowledge base

11. Group Level SGD Model • Design of group • Group identity: name • Composition: set of individuals that are associated with the group • Structure(Based on Jesuino’s) • Social attraction: interpersonal attraction of the members ex) like, dislike • Social influence: relation of power ex) power one can exert, power one is able to resist • Knowledge base • Group-individual relation

12. Interaction Level SGD Model • Design of interaction • Predicate and function(Knowledge base)

13. Interaction Level SGD Model • Classification of interaction(Based on Bale’s IPA system)

14. Interaction Level SGD Model • Dynamics of the interaction <Occurrence of an interaction in the group> • Agent’s motivation, group position, personality Frequency • Agent’s personalities  Tendencies of social emotional interactions • Level of expertise  Instrumental interactions • Agent’s position  Socio-emotional interactions

15. Interaction Level SGD Model(Continued) <Instrumental interaction  structure of social influence>

16. Interaction Level SGD Model(Continued) <Socio-emotional interaction structure of social attraction>

17. Behavior Generation SGD Model • Behavior generation(Algorithm)

18. Implementation Case Study: Perfect Circle • Perfect Circle: the Quest for the Rainbow Pearl • Collaborative game • 4 autonomous characters and 1 user-controlled characters • Game mechanism(overview) • Design criterion[Mennecke and Wheeler, 2004] • It is appropriate for all the subject • It promotes subject’s intellectual engagement • It has a good level of complexity • It is conjunctive • The differences in subject’s experiences Magic Item Portal Gemstone Ability

19. Implementation Case Study: Perfect Circle • How SGD model is applied? • 2 instrumental interactions • Facilitate problem: interaction corresponds to the event of a successful execution of a manipulation on a gemstone • Obstruct problem: corresponds to a failure • 4 socio-emotional interactions • Agree/ Disagree/ Encourage/ Discourage • Intension is presented by the form of senteces ex)”I believe you”(positive), “Stop doing that”(negative)

20. Experiments Case Study: Perfect Circle • Subjects: • 24 students of computer science(20 male , 4 females students) • Independent variables • 2 version of game(SGD model applied or not) • Two initial group structures(neutral/hostile) • Dependent variables • Group trust/ Group identification/ Satisfaction • Measures • Questionnaires (modified Allen’s version) • 3 positive and 3 negative questions(7 level scale) • Reliability test: Cronbach’s Alpha value • Procedure • 2 Hours(30 min for learning, 1 hour for playing, 30 min for answering) • 3 groups(without SGD, SGD with neural relation, SGD with hostile relation)

21. Result Case Study: Perfect Circle • Result(Mann-Whitney test) • Synthetic characters with SGD mode  high level of trust • Low level of initial cohesion of the group(with SGD model)  Level of trust in a group is much higher  Better identification of themselves  Subjects were more satisfied

22. Conclusion • Former collaboration games has lack of social interactions • It suggests a way of making synthetic characters smarter based on some human social psychological theories • Concept of SGD model • Implementation: Perfect Circle • Additional result • Low level of initial group cohesion can cause more user’s satisfaction

23. End of Document