Ollie Tristram

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/ -

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created an entirely synthetic “child-like” artificial intelligence and introduced it to the virtual world of Second Life. “Eddie”, as he was named, is the result of a complex model of AI components. Eddie can reason on his own and has a belief system unique to his own experiences. He runs on a supercomputer that is claimed to be the most powerful university-based system of its kind. The system can produce over 100 teraflops (that’s a lot) of computing power, and runs through Blue Gene supercomputers, Linux and AMD Opteron clusters.

Eddie uses what is called “Theory of Mind” that gives him the ability to interact with other avatars within the virtual world in a dynamic way. He can reason independently of direct input and can arrive at conclusions in a way that mimics a child’s own mental processes.

Eddie, of course, is only the beginning and the researches are already looking far into the future for applications that may benefit from an advanced AI such as Eddie’s. “The apps, frankly, are endless,” says Selmer Bringsjord, the head of the institute’s Cognitive Science Department, “Imagine being able to step into a simulation environment in which you interact with synthetic characters as sophisticated as those seen in the Star Trek’s holodeck.”

The implication of this technology to the future of videogames is almost inconceivable. Can you imagine playing a shooter where the virtual enemies can actually adapt to the way you’re playing and learn your weaknesses? It would introduce a whole new level of enemy AI that has been promised for many years but has never really materialized. Currently, most AI is derived from a series of If/Then commands.

IF Player 1 is firing his weapon // THEN Hide behind a wall

IF Player 1 stops firing his weapon // THEN fire at Player 1

An ideal AI would think dynamically and remember the player’s previous habits.

IF Player 1 is firing his weapon // Notice that Player 1 is in an enclosed location and would be vulnerable to a grenade thrown with a short delay. Remember that Player 1 favors the crouching position when shooting with the M16. Remember that Player 1 frequently uses the knife on enemies within close range. Etc…

It sure would add replay value to nearly any game that could be conceived, and it truly would make the gameplay experience unique to each and every person that plays the game. While this kind of AI is probably so far into the future that we’ll all be old and gray by the time it finally shows up, and there’s currently only one computer in the world that can handle a primitive version of it, I’ll certainly be looking forward to it, should it ever become a reality.

Yello.

So this is what I have so far for the first project of the Identities module. I am going to use a 2D avatar in a 3D environment.

The avatar is simply me, but in various poses and performing activities that represent who I am and what I enjoy. I may not use all of these pictures in the final piece though and there may be newer ones included in that too. I chose for the photos to be me in normal clothes as it reinforces the idea that I am just the average multimedia student, and this is also the case when describing the editing on the pictures - minimal and simple.

As for the environment, it's supposed to be a nightclub. It is still in progress but this is its current state. There is a disco ball thing, a dancefloor, some capsule seats in the corner and a DJ booth and bar to the right. I may possibly include some more seating on the left. I also intend to use different coloured lighting and depending on how difficult it is, use flashing lights in the final animation. The final scene will include textures on all surfaces to give a more realistic image.

The various avatars of me will be dotted around the club in their different poses and the animation will be of a camera flying through the scene to explore it.

Andy makes 3Ds Max look so easy. And then when I want to go and use it I think, "oh i'll just do this and then this will happen and its easy to mould shapes etc", but then when you come to do it there is always something which I don't know how to do which prevents me from getting further and therefore resulting in my getting annoyed with the nothingness I've created. Anyway, I made a figure out of using the Line tool and then extruding it. It means nothing really but it could make a cool logo... or not.



And then I began trying to model a person until I couldn't figure out how to make more polygons on a face so I couldn't make any facial shapes or anything so this is as far as I've got so far.

The brief for the module says as follows;

"Create an avatar in online 3D environments, like Second Life and Virtual Doppelganger spend some time exploring the virtual environments and communication with the residents. Keep diary of at least four weeks of your Avatar’s experiences and screen shots and publish them on your journal between weeks 20 to 32."

So after testing Second Life and concluding that it is absolutely rubbish and complicated I found another similar online community, There.com. It is much easier to use and for starters doesn't lag so much! It is fairly bandwidth-friendly and I haven't encountered any serious performance issues with it thus far. I could tell I was signing up for a more user-friendly environment just from the initial log-in and welcome pages. It used a lower formality tone and talked of how There.com is just about having fun.

I have used the username of OllieT88 (Ollie Tristram and then my birth year 1988) as its what I've used in the past and its easy to remember. This is what your default avatar looks like.



As you enter the virtual world you start on Fisher Island which has multiple billboards giving you beginner tips on how to communicate, move etc. It's very simple. Use the arrow keys to walk and double tap and hold them to run in that direction. I saw a few other avatars running around the island and went over to one. All you have to do is type and a speech bubble appears above your head. This guy was nice enough and introduced himself as being an Aussie and that a lot of people are quite cool and nice on There.com. I asked him some questions about customisation and what you can get up and he said the 'buggy races' were quite fun and other than that you just make friends. Then came along a female character and we ended having a 3-way conversation. The view switches so that you all become central to the chat. You can even use gestures to help communicate expression and feelings. Laughing, becoming mad and flirting or just a few of these.



There.com uses a currency just like many other virtual life simulators. This time its called 'There bucks' and you can use it to buy land, houses, clothes and many other accessories. Unfortunately, this money system prevents you, from having a different appearance other than the default one. On saying that, you could customise you head size and shape, including nose, eyebrows, lips and ears. Therefore, without paying you are very limited from being individual. I did try however, to make the face look like as much like my real life self as possible, so judge for yourself on how accurate I was!



After getting used to Fisher Island, I looked on the map and one of the 'Places of Interest' highlighted was Motu Motu, so I teleported there. It was a row of houses and if you walked up to them it told you who owned them. You could then click on that sign for further information such as when any upcoming events were at that house.



At the end of the row of houses was a club and on the outside were signs and posters advertising for you to pay 'There bucks' to rent out the club for whatever use. Inside the club were tables and chairs, a dance floor with moving lights and whatnot - all of which you could interact with, and had there been many people about, it would make for a good virtual social hang out.

Next time I log-in I think I shall check out all the different events and 'fun' activites you can participate in.