With knowledge from psychology and sociology, we make lifelike interactive characters who grasp situations, react to contingencies, and appear aware of their surroundings.Tumblr (3.0; @impulsionproject)http://impulsionproject.net/<iframe width="400" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uKb9Yh9IANc?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/><br/>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52862715476http://impulsionproject.net/post/52862715476Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:17:36 -0400ImpulsionSocialAISoftwareVideoDemoPublicationmarketstreetjoint“An interactive story needs interactive characters. A good story needs lifelike characters. Lifelike interactive character needs Social AI.”http://impulsionproject.net/post/53277280163http://impulsionproject.net/post/53277280163Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:15:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAImarketstreetjoint“Body language, personal space, gaze attraction, and territoriality are part of the interactive illusion of life.”http://impulsionproject.net/post/52480844034http://impulsionproject.net/post/52480844034Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:55:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAImarketstreetjoint<p>In his book “Conducting Interaction: Patterns of behavior in focused encounters”, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Kendon" target="_blank"><strong>Adam Kendon</strong></a> presents the concept of F-formation to explain why people arrange in particular ways when engaged in social interactions.<!-- more --></p> <p>People need space to perform activities. Claiming an amount of space is part of some of the interactions we carry out. Kendon calls this space the individual’s <em>transactional segment</em>. Others can judge a person’s transactional segment from his orientation in the environment, his line of activity, what appears to be the &#8220;feedback cycle&#8221; between the person’s actions and the entity to which these actions relate. </p> <p>The transactional segment is a necessary component of the interaction itself. Space invasion will result into a broken segment that will interrupt the activity and motivate a quick reaction to reestablish the interaction. Usually, we have a tendency to respect one&#8217;s transactional segment and continuously adjust what we do to not interfere with it.</p> <p>When we engage in a group interaction the transactional segment of each member intersects in a common space. In a conversation for example, the group arranges in such a way to gain equal, direct and exclusive access to the common space. The necessity of keeping a common space and maintaining exclusive access to it, places every member in behavioral relationship with each other. Everyone&#8217;s position and orientation will affect somewhat the whole group.</p> <p>The F-formation is how the members arrange to keep the behavioral relationship in good balance and protect the common space, foundation of the group interaction. Any disturbance to the optimum arrangement will trigger a series of compensatory adjustments leading to a new state of equilibrium.</p> <p>This compensational motion is an essential ingredient of the way we experience daily group conversations. It makes them appear dynamic more than static, reactive more than passive. Instead of unchanging, they seem alive. Our goal is to extract the very essence of this motion to imbue interactive characters with its visual sense of vitality.</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52897824051http://impulsionproject.net/post/52897824051Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:20:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAISociologyPsychologymarketstreetjoint<img src="http://37.media.tumblr.com/b6d48f6045f831d398e85f4907e0d04f/tumblr_moctp8wzdB1suelbso1_r3_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Albert Scheflen’s human territories.</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52902610058http://impulsionproject.net/post/52902610058Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:15:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAISociologyPsychologymarketstreetjoint<p>The Impulsion Engine is a software platform developed to explore new concepts in social AI for lifelike interactive characters. We strive to improve virtual characters’ behaviors by making them act more realistically in social simulations. The platform represents a social AI engine that applies novel solutions to various types of interactive simulations and game environments.</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52480714816http://impulsionproject.net/post/52480714816Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:11:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAISoftwaremarketstreetjoint<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/d755e5be03adff25df098872cfb00158/tumblr_moaf9yY8Fs1suelbso1_r5_500.png"/><br/><br/>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52795225463http://impulsionproject.net/post/52795225463Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:10:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAImarketstreetjoint“In the early stages of creation of both art and science, everything in the mind is a story.”<br/><br/> - <em>E. O. Wilson, Sociobiologist</em>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52631717869http://impulsionproject.net/post/52631717869Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:10:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAImarketstreetjoint<p>&#8230; but do they have the right tools for it? Tactical combat is by far the leading applicable scenario of character AI in today’s video games. Interactive stories that go beyond mere gunfire demand for characters rich enough to engage in social scenarios, where we expect them to appear more lifelike. It&#8217;s a problem yet to be successfully tackled by the gaming industry.<!-- more --></p> <p>Standing in line without rushing into others, facing a group of peers you are chatting with, sensing the comfort zone of another, and looking into each other’s eyes require a different approach than what is used for tactical combat.</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52480925135http://impulsionproject.net/post/52480925135Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:10:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAIDesignmarketstreetjoint<a href="http://aigamedev.com/open/coverage/vienna12-report/#session7">Talk at GameAiConf12 | Link</a>: <p>Behavior Trees for Social Territorial Intelligence</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52869354800http://impulsionproject.net/post/52869354800Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:10:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAITalkLecturemarketstreetjoint<a href="http://aigamedev.com/ultimate/presentation/human-territoriality/">Talk at GameAiConf10 | Link</a>: <p>Human Territoriality for the Next EVE ONLINE’s Socially Smart Characters</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52869691035http://impulsionproject.net/post/52869691035Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:10:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAITalkLecturemarketstreetjoint<img src="http://37.media.tumblr.com/0acae0c96e6e48fb2c27fc904006a56e/tumblr_moccij4pmY1suelbso1_r1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Adam Kendon’s F-formation.</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52876919378http://impulsionproject.net/post/52876919378Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:10:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAISociologyPsychologymarketstreetjoint<img src="http://37.media.tumblr.com/54ee0cfe024d250184548314b430d946/tumblr_moe3pihJ7g1suelbso1_r2_500.png"/><br/><br/><div align="center"><strong><a href="http://www.ccpgames.com" target="_blank">CCP Games</a></strong> <p>Maker of EVE Online and DUST 514. We collaborated to develop an internal demo featuring the Impulsion technology.</p> </div>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52951480869http://impulsionproject.net/post/52951480869Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:05:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAICollaborationVideomarketstreetjoint<img src="http://37.media.tumblr.com/a354254c5d53ae858e99c82ec37a45ac/tumblr_mokec8jP9e1suelbso1_500.gif"/><br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>CADIA</strong> <p>The AI Lab at Reykjavik University where the research initially started with support from the Icelandic Research Fund.</p> </div>http://impulsionproject.net/post/53240300225http://impulsionproject.net/post/53240300225Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:03:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAICollaborationVideomarketstreetjoint<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/8b85a2f52bc7dcc30956750246b10136/tumblr_mogg8whTt71suelbso1_r1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>SIGGRAPH 2012 poster.</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/53054047148http://impulsionproject.net/post/53054047148Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:00:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAIPublicationmarketstreetjoint<img src="http://37.media.tumblr.com/d16e64a73920231044744461b12c710b/tumblr_mokemr1dRt1suelbso1_500.png"/><br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>IIIM</strong> <p>Supported the project for two years.</p> </div>http://impulsionproject.net/post/53240749137http://impulsionproject.net/post/53240749137Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:10:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAICollaborationVideomarketstreetjoint<p>In the book &#8220;Human Territories: how we behave in space-time&#8221;, Albert E. Scheflen describes spaces defined by the locations and movements of humans and things. He looks at human behavior as a dynamic evolution that defines territories over time. Human territories are hierarchically organized and progressively growing to lager behavioral systems and then contexts.<!-- more --></p> <p>Four are the type of territories in the Scheflen&#8217;s classification: Element, F-formation, Gathering and Hub. They are ordered by complexity and size. More complex territories contains simpler ones who, in turn, composes the complex one. A non-casual arrangement of furnitures in a room shapes the territorial field. A table surrounded by chairs suggests the footprint of an F-formation while in a theater, the seats follow the structure of a Hub.</p> <p>Elements are array of people sufficiently close to each other and oriented the same way. Elements can be a row of friends walking down the street. <a href="http://impulsionproject.net/post/52897824051/f-formation" target="_blank"><strong>F-formations</strong></a> are occasions of face-to-face interaction where all members orient toward a common space, like in a group conversation. Gatherings are groups of Elements and F-formations, the territorial description of a cocktail party scenario. In a bar there might be Gatherings for every room or floor, or even more than one in the same room. Hubs are increment of Gatherings where the inner and outer zones differentiate role and status of members. People in the outer zone orient toward the center, looking at the inner zone where a group of performers stands. An amphitheater is a good example of how a Hub looks like. This territory has a surround structured in two levels of spectators plus an extra zone which is used as a passageway for people who wants to attend the performance.</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/53223260062http://impulsionproject.net/post/53223260062Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:15:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAISociologyPsychologymarketstreetjoint<p>The eight-bit gaming world of yesterday left characters helplessly running into walls and awkwardly maneuvering around obstacles. The development of path-finding and local avoidance has established techniques that have given rise to a new breed character, one that no longer runs headfirst into walls but simulates an understanding of space. However, to achieve lifelike character behavior, an understanding of space is insufficient without an understanding of context.<!-- more --></p> <p>Certain locations may have an intended use that goes beyond mere topological shape. One solution would be to semantically tag locations–but what if the environment changes dynamically, such as in a space full of people who are moving around? Theories on human territoriality can help building a system that reasons about spatial affordance (what can be done in certain places or to certain objects), creating characters who can move about their environment more naturally.</p>http://impulsionproject.net/post/52481231972http://impulsionproject.net/post/52481231972Sat, 08 Jun 2013 15:29:00 -0400ImpulsionSocialAIDesignmarketstreetjoint