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

ABSTRACT

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.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS
      I.3.7 Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism
          Subjects: Animation

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.8 PERSONAL COMPUTING
      K.8.0 General
          Subjects: Games

Keywords:
autonomous agents, directable characters, emotion, human factors