proposition 1: agents need content

1
propositions

• proposition 1 agents need content
• proposition 2 agents must provide added value
• proposition 3 gestures and (facial) animation
  must be meaningful
• proposition 4 agents should be naturally
  embedded in their environment
• proposition 5 the behavior of agents must be
  understandable

2
remarks

• remark 1 the aesthetics of agents should be
  centered around function,
  that is form and
  content
• remark 2 developing agents requires
  intelligent multimedia technology

3
structure

• requirements -- guidelines for system design
• applications -- target demonstrators
• technology -- declarative programming
• evaluation-- validation, PEFiC
• conclusions and future research -- digital
  dossiers

4
Requirements -- guidelines for system design
programming platform

• declarative language -- for agent support
• multiple threads of control -- for multiple
  shared objects
• distributed communication -- networking
  capabilities (TCP/IP)

scripting behavior

• convenience -- for non-professional authors
• compositional semantics -- combining operations
• re-definability -- for high-level specification
  of actions
• parametrization -- for the adaptation of actions
  
• interaction -- with a (virtual) environment

5
Applications -- target demonstrators
Agents in multi-user virtual environments
Mixed-media presentations with commentators
Tai-Chi, domestic servants and conducting music
STEP applications

• tai-chi demonstrator
• grasping and reaching, using inverse kinematics
  and reasoning
• facial animation (with text-to-speech)
• virtual presenter -- presenting powerpoint
  presentation

6
Technology -- declarative programming
DLPX3D

• control points get/set -- position, rotation,
  viewpoint
• event-handling -- asynchronous accept

STEP

• move -- move(Agent,BodyPart,Direction,Duration)
• turn -- turn(Agent,BodyPart,Direction,Duration)

• sequence -- Action_1,...,Action_n
• parallel -- parallel(Action_1,...,Action_n)
• choice -- disjunct(Action_1,...,Action_n)
• repeat -- repeat(Action,k)

composite operators
7
Evaluation -- validating agent-based applications
Embodied agents as fictional characters

• phase 1 -- encoding
• ethics -- good vs. bad
• aesthetics -- beauty vs ugliness
• epistemics -- realistic vs. unrealistic
• phase 2 -- comparison
• establishing personal relevance, mutual
  similarity and valence towards fictional
  character
• phase 3 -- response
• involvement vs distance -- tendency to approach
  or avoid

PEFiC
8
Conclusions
In this paper ...
Future research directions
validation scenario(s)

• navigation -- pure interactivity
• guided tours -- using some narrative structure
• agent-mediated -- navigation and guided tours