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Information and Digital Design
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a.uday.shanker@gmail.com |
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Virtual Intelligent Agents in Interactive Environments
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Guide Dr Bibhudutta Baral |
Sponsonr Self Sponsored
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In the current generation of virtual intelligent agents, the success of its interaction with users depends on the accuracy and spontaneity with which it perceives and reacts to any inputs. My project presents various applications involving virtual intelligent agents which are inspired by the Belief, Desire and Intention Architecture, which both entertains and physically interact with users. This was achieved by using an Everywhere Display System and advanced computer graphic techniques to track and analyze the user behavior. These applications are made more immersive by adding sound spatialization to sonic cues. I then designed a new type of embodied agent architecture. In particular, the agent brings the gap between screen-based virtual agents and physically embodied agents (robots) by materializing the shadow agent on the floor (outside of the usual screen surfaces without being a tangible or haptic interface).
The 'Everywhere Display System' allows movement of the agent to any location without losing definition. I used advanced computer vision techniques to localize and recognize the users’ actions. In tandem with simple audio listening, these inputs are exploited by a BDI agent that acts autonomously by implementing various context sensitive plans. Camera calibration techniques accurately align the agent according to the user’s foot location. The visual output was augmented with an audio dimension to accentuate the agent’s presence.
As a designer, I am pleased that this work has broad implications and will advance the state of the art in the fields of virtual agents, ubiquitous interactive graphics, augmented reality, as well as in the wider field of human computer interfaces. |
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