Interaction Histories and Short-Term Memory: Enactive Development of Turn-Taking Behaviours in a Childlike Humanoid Robot

In this article, an enactive architecture is described that allows a humanoid robot to learn to compose simple actions into turn-taking behaviours while playing interaction games with a human partner. The robot’s action choices are reinforced by social feedback from the human in the form of visual attention and measures of behavioural synchronisation. We demonstrate that the system can acquire and switch between behaviours learned through interaction based on social feedback from the human partner. The role of reinforcement based on a short-term memory of the interaction was experimentally investigated. Results indicate that feedback based only on the immediate experience was insufficient to learn longer, more complex turn-taking behaviours. Therefore, some history of the interaction must be considered in the acquisition of turn-taking, which can be efficiently handled through the use of short-term memory.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Online Build-Order Optimization for Real-Time Strategy Agents Using Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms

The investigation introduces a novel approach for online build-order optimization in real-time strategy (RTS) games. The goal of our research is to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) RTS planning agent for military critical decision- making education with the ability to perform at an expert human level, as well as to assess a players critical decision- making ability or skill-level. Build-order optimization is modeled as a multi-objective problem (MOP), and solutions are generated utilizing a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) that provides a set of good build-orders to a RTS planning agent. We de ne three research objectives: (1) Design, implement and validate a capability to determine the skill-level of a RTS player. (2) Design, implement and validate a strategic planning tool that produces near expert level build-orders which are an ordered sequence of actions a player can issue to achieve a goal, and (3) Integrate the strategic planning tool into our existing RTS agent framework and an RTS game engine. The skill-level metric we selected provides an original and needed method of evaluating a RTS players skill-level during game play. This metric is a high-level description of how quickly a player executes a strategy versus known players executing the same strategy. Our strategic planning tool combines a game simulator and an MOEA to produce a set of diverse and good build-orders for an RTS agent. Through the integration of case-base reasoning (CBR), planning goals are derived and expert build- orders are injected into a MOEA population. The MOEA then produces a diverse and approximate Pareto front that is integrated into our AI RTS agent framework. Thus, the planning tool provides an innovative online approach for strategic planning in RTS games. Experimentation via the Spring Engine Balanced Annihilation game reveals that the strategic planner is able to discover build-orders that are better than an expert scripted agent and thus achieve faster strategy execution times

El valor de marca de los destinos turísticos: La influencia de la marca país y de la marca región.

ABSTRACT. This paper focuses on the customer-based brand equity for a regional tourist destination, and develops a theoretical model including the causal relationships between the dimensions of brand equity (awareness, image, perceived quality and loyalty). Accordingly, the loyalty of international tourists is considered as the main outcome variable for explanation in the theoretical model. Moreover, the paper adopts an international tourism approach and takes into account the hierarchy of destination brands, analyzing the influence of country destination image (i.e. country as umbrella brand) on the regional destination image. The empirical evidence obtained from a sample of 253 international tourists visiting a regional destination in Spain supports that loyalty towards the destination is positively influenced by the perceived quality of the destination, which in turn is directly influenced by the image and awareness of the destination. Additionally, our results support for the idea that the perceptions of international tourists of a regional destination are positively influenced by their perceptions of the country destination where the region is located. The country’s brand therefore acts as an “umbrella brand” for the region’s brand.RESUMEN. Este documento se centra en el valor de marca basado en el cliente para un destino turístico regional, desarrollándose un modelo teórico que incluye las relaciones causales entre las dimensiones del valor de marca (reconocimiento, imagen, calidad percibida y lealtad). En consecuencia, la fidelidad de los turistas internacionales se considera como la principal variable resultado a explicar en el modelo teórico propuesto. Por otra parte, la investigación adopta un enfoque del turismo internacional y tiene en cuenta la jerarquía de las marcas de destino, analizando la influencia de imagen de destino del país (es decir, el país como “marca paraguas”) sobre la imagen de destino regional. La evidencia empírica obtenida a partir de una muestra de 253 turistas internacionales que visitan un destino regional en España respaldan que la lealtad hacia el destino está influenciada positivamente por la calidad percibida del destino, que a su vez está directamente influenciado por la imagen y reconocimiento de marca del destino. Además, nuestros resultados muestran que las percepciones de los turistas internacionales de un destino regional están influenciados positivamente por sus percepciones sobre el destino país donde se encuentra la región. Por lo tanto, la marca de país actúa como un "marca paraguas" para la marca de la región