MAS 962: Interaction Techniques for Virtual Environments

Tuesday, November 24, 1998

Building a Veldt

Would you take on this project? To build an interactive nursery like the one in Ray Bradbury's, The Veldt.

Limit the time and personnel scope, money no object

4 Year Veldt project - 20 people

Questions to answer first:

• Are you building a "Veldt" (single setting, African scene) or the "Nursery" (can show anything that the mind comes up with)
• Veldt is hard enough
• Limit I in AI (no people, just animals)
• specification of story vs. selection of story
• art - can only produce so much
• veldt-only needs stories
• veldt-like is a good set
• don't need to construct environment, construction from child's output
• how do you make environment that kids want?
• situate the specifications within the context of the veldt

Major areas to develop

• AI for virtual animals
• immersion
• interface (how system knows what intent of user is; what is the emotional stance of user)
• amount of things to do: stories/context;narrative representation
• authoring (us) stories (batch)
• emergent story creations
• evocative objects!!and characters and memory

The goal of this nursery is to have a place where kids?

• play
• explore
• create stories

What about imaginatively challenged? Are there kids that are?

Will have to compete with graphics and story of Star Wars, etc.

But don't want it to be "like" a video game, movie, etc.

Ages different - different perceptions, different needs for interaction

What age do we aim for?

• If all ages, how do you stratify to accommodate?
• Which is easiest? best shot?
  • younger kids?
• Is there a purpose to enhancing imagination of little kid? Their imaginations are already strong
• Real value is to enhance imagination of older kids
• KidsRoom 6-12, under 6 yrs. were terrified, over 12 yrs. thought dorky, also more self-conscious about playing along
• Let's shoot for nursery 6-12

Kids are creating stories for themselves, not to tell others, not for parents

Can you do this w/o speech recognition?

• what about just mood: anger, happiness, etc.
• is there really a need for it?
• How about just "key word" spotting

Classes, characterizations of interaction

• emotional stance of user
• intent of user
• the slope of the interaction - who's taking the initiative
• Authoring
• Direct manipulation
• Participant (interacting w/characters)

How do you move around in the world and believe you're moving?

• military jogging machine, very good rollers w/harness
• Panasonic swimming pool, current generator
• Japanese ski slope in dome (anything being done to make you feel like you're going faster than you are)
• Elevator in Albuquerque science museum - mining exhibit

Physical Interaction? - Haptic feedback

• Phantom, expensive and dangerous because to be effective needs to be capable of great deal of force, exoskeletons
• Robots
• KidsRoom - illusionary haptic feedback created through sound-hitting rocks on bed/boat was visual and sound only -kids themselves "crashed" back without being prompted
• Sound-glass breaking heard, makes you feel like it has happened more than a great visual of breaking glass does
• Cheap robot that receives feedback (gets bitten) - brings virtual to physical world
• Put kids in a car-lion can't break through car- create story-based reason why things don't happen
• Maybe require car, can still get out but can use car to move to another location and receive haptic feedback only while in car

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