RESEARCH
Current Research
Confirmation Report abstract:
Non-player characters (NPCs) fill a wide range of roles in computer games, from shopkeepers and soldiers through to team-mates and opponents, which all contribute to creating realistic and well-rounded fantasy worlds for game players. However, most NPCs do not add to the engagement of game players, as the behaviour of the NPCs is predictable and their dialogue is completely scripted. There has been some previous research aimed at improving the quality of NPCs, most of which has been based on the assumption that NPCs should be as human-like and realistic as possible. While it may be valid to assume that game players would like NPCs to be more human-like, this assumption has not been thoroughly examined. This project aims to determine the characteristics of NPC behaviour in games that adds to players’ engagement, and how these characteristics can be demonstrated to the player. The deliverables of this project will be design and evaluation guidelines for engaging NPCs, as these are the first steps in the process of creating engaging NPCs. The information that will form the basis of these guidelines will be gathered from three observational studies of users interacting with NPCs, which are the three studies of this project.
This topic covers literature from a lot of different areas - computer games, dialogue (a bit linguistics, a bit psychology), agents etc. At the moment, I don't have many summaries on agents completed, but as I do, I'll put more here. I've also looked at this project from a methodological point of view, the different ways of gathering data, and how to get the data I need. Some of the areas that I have looked at include: ethnography (in particular, cyber-ethnography), participatory design and cultural probes. As I write some summaries for these references, I'll create a methodology page.
Agents (Intelligent, BDI and Conversational)
Earlier Research
Research that I was doing earlier in my PhD focussed on Recurrent Neural Networks, Knowledge and Natural Language. I have also read a few papers in the areas of Dynamical Systems, Lindenmayer Systems (L-Systems) and Fractals. If you are interested in any of these areas, have a look:
Undergrad Research
Following is the abstract from my Honours thesis, but there are all sorts of reasons why I haven't got the thesis here. The main one being that it was a Commercial In Confidence project, and I can't display it.
Honours Thesis Abstract
This paper discusses the design, implementation and evaluation of a Lessons Learned System, developed for use at Boeing Australia Ltd. The need for the Lessons Learned System arose from the lack of a central repository that could be used for storing project experiences. The system will be deployed on the central Engineering Network (EngNET) at Boeing Australia Ltd. Research has been carried out in the area of knowledge management to determine what factors will affect the success or failure of the system in the current work environment of the organisation. The development process used for the Lessons Learned System was an iterative process involving specification, design, implementation, deployment and review activities.