Robot Improv : Using Drama to Create Believable Agents

1. Robot Improv : Using Drama to Create Believable Agents Allison Bruce, Jonathan Knight, Samuel Listopad, Brian Magerko, Illah Nourbakhsh Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

2. Motivation • Physical robots as believable agents • Instead of modeling human behavior, model the behavior of actors • Mechanism is known • Designed for believability Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

3. Definitions • Hero • Villain • Outer obstacles • Inner obstacles • Given circumstances Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

4. The Play • Two robots in acting class • Improvisation: an introductory exercise Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

5. Implementation • Nomad Scouts • Planner and motion control code written in Java • 900 Mhz Radio Modems • Text-to-speech synthesis software Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

6. Play Architecture • Room • Props • Actors • Inner obstacles • Goals • Behaviors • Inner obstacles • Actions Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

7. Execution Loop • Listen and Update • Success function • Inner obstacle perturbation and decay • Choose Action • 2-level hierarchical planner • Act • Sonar-based obstacle avoidance • Communicate • Position, Action, Dialog Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

8. Experiments • First public performance April ’99 at CMU • Performed at AAAI ’99 robotics exhibition 10-15 times using 6 actor personalities • Performed 18 more times at CMU for video documentation Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

9. Performances Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon

10. Results • Embodiment matters • Improvisation relies on physical factors • Possible improvements • More sophisticated dialog selection • Transitions between behaviors • Public response • Future work • Longer, more complex plays • Acting with humans Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon