Revisiting Character-Based Affective Storytelling under a Narrative BDI Framework

Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) is a well-known cognitive theory, especially in the field of Software Agents. Modelling characters using software agents has been proven to be a suitable approach for obtaining emergent and autonomous behaviours in Interactive Storytelling. In this paper it is claimed that an effective extension of previous models to the BDI framework is useful for designing intelligent characters. An example shows how internal thoughts and motivations of Madame Bovary’s main characters can be more naturally formalised as a cognitive side of the story. A narrative reformulation of BDI theory is needed to avoid the implicit complexity of other proposals

Extending character-based storytelling with awareness and feelings

Most Interactive Storytelling systems developed to date have followed a task-based approach to story representation, using planning techniques to drive the story by generating a sequence of actions, which essentially "solve" the task to which the story is equated. One major limitation of this approach has been that it fails to incorporate characters' psychology, and as a consequence important aesthetic aspects of the narrative cannot be easily captured by Interactive Storytelling. In this paper, we introduce a new approach to Interactive Storytelling, which aims at reconciling narrative actions with the characters' attributed psychology as stated in the narrative. Our long-term goal is to be able to explore Interactive Storytelling for those narrative genres which are based on the characters' psychology rather than solely on their actions. We used as a starting point the formalisation by Flaubert himself of his novel Madame Bovary, which includes a detailed account of characters' desires and feelings. We describe a prototype in which characters' behaviour is driven by a real-time search-based planning system applying operators whose content is based on a specific inventory of feelings. Furthermore, the actual pattern of evolution of the character's plan, as measured through the variation of the search heuristic, is used to confer a sense of awareness to the characters, which can be used to generate feelings about its overall situation, from feelings of boredom to hope

Urban Secondary Teachers' Perceptions of a Standards-Based Teacher Evaluation System

Thesis advisor: Irwin BlumerThis study was conducted within a large urban high school in the northeastern United States. This school resides in a district that utilizes a standards-based system of teacher evaluation. The purpose of the study was to determine teachers' perspectives on the effectiveness of standards-based teacher evaluation systems as a means of improving instruction and student achievement. The question for research, <&ldquo>What are teacher perceptions of evaluation in an urban high school that uses a standards<&ndash>based evaluation system?<&rdquo> served as the framework for development and implementation of this study and for interpretation of the study findings. The body of related literature provided the theoretical rationale for the data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Major sections of the literature review included: a historical perspective on performance standards and of teacher evaluation from the mid-nineteenth through the early twenty-first centuries; an examination of contemporary teacher evaluation systems; a review of recent theoretical and empirical research concerning best evaluation practices; and a review of the research regarding teachers' perceptions of supervision and evaluation. Data were gathered from thirty participants through a thirty-one question Likert<&ndash>based attitude scale. Key findings included teachers' perceptions that: they were not familiar with the teaching performance standards used in their district; they did not believe that their evaluations were rooted solely in the these standards; they believed their evaluation conferences with supervisors helped then to improve their practice; their evaluations were not tied to annual goals or individual and school professional development plans; supervisors did not use multiple sources of data as a part of teacher evaluation; supervisors do not spend enough time in classrooms to carry out expectations for effective evaluation; and that peer observation aided teachers in improving their practice. While current research asserts that standards-based teacher evaluation systems coupled with an array of activities that foster teacher ownership for the process can be used as a powerful vehicle for improving student achievement, study findings were inconclusive regarding any perceived association between standards<&ndash>based performance evaluation structures and practices and the improvement of student achievement.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Administration

How does quality enter into health care purchasing decisions?

A number of employers, business consortia, and public purchasers are promoting value-based purchasing as a way to improve the quality of patient care. Some purchasers are using publicly available information on health plan and provider performance to make their health plan and provider choices, while others are using their market power to drive improvements in patient care and safety. This article examines six key strategies used by purchasers

Interacting with a gaze-aware virtual character

In this paper, we present the user’s attentive state interpreted through eye gaze while interacting with a virtual character. The underlying narrative in which the approach was tested is based on a classical XIX th century psychological novel: Madame Bovary, by Flaubert. We connected a remote eye tracker with a dynamic 3D world. An empirical study revealed individual user experiences and behavioral patterns. In particular, we identified two different groups of users: one that was showing natural eye gaze behaviors with rhythmic eye gaze shifts between the characters ’ eyes, face and the scene and another one permanently staring at the character. Interestingly, the group with more natural behaviors towards the character also rated the experience with the system more positively

Ferric Gluconate Yields Cost-Savings in Hemodialysis Patients with High Ferritin and Low TSAT: Results from the DRIVE Studies

Purpose: One third of hemodialysis patients have high serum ferritin levels and low transferrin saturation (TSAT). The purpose of this analysis was to determine the cost effectiveness of administering 1g of sodium ferric gluconate complex (SFGC: also referred to as ferric gluconate) to patients with serum ferritin \u3e500ng/mL and TSAT ≤25% based on the Dialysis Patients Response to IV Iron with Elevated Ferritin (DRIVE) study and its 6-week observational extension (DRIVE-II). In these studies, IV iron administration resulted in reduced epoetin requirements. Methods: Decision analysis was performed using a time horizon of 12 weeks, consistent with the combined duration of DRIVE and DRIVE II. Treatment effectiveness was based on mean increase in hemoglobin (Hb) for each group (SFGC plus epoetin or epoetin alone) in the intention to treat populations. Costs included drugs (SFGC and epoetin) and hospitalizations due to serious adverse events (SAEs) reported. The primary cost effectiveness measure was cost per g/dL of Hb increase at 12 weeks. Costs were computed from a Medicare perspective using projected 2007 reimbursements. Sensitivity analyses were performed to test the impact of using the safety population, median epoetin and SFGC doses, actual 2005 Medicare reimbursements, median increases in Hb, and SAE rate changes. The model was constructed using TreeAge Pro software. Results: Total cost per patient receiving SFGC plus epoetin was $3675 per g/dL Hb increase, while the total cost per patient receiving epoetin alone was$5065 per g/dL Hb increase. Net savings for SFGC plus epoetin was $1390 per g/dL Hb increase over the 12 week period Sensitivity analyses affirmed the robustness of the model. Conclusion: Administering 1g of SFGC plus epoetin in patients with high ferritin and low TSAT as defined in the DRIVE studies resulted in significant cost-savings compared to epoetin alone

Automatic generation of game level solutions as storyboards

Interactive Storytelling techniques are attracting much interest for their potential to develop new game genres but also as another form of procedural content generation, specifically dedicated to game events rather than objects or characters. However, one issue constantly raised by game developers, when discussing gameplay implications of Interactive Storytelling techniques, is the possible loss of designer control over the dynamically generated storyline. Joint research with industry has suggested a new potential use for Interactive Storytelling technologies, which stands precisely as an assistance to game design. Its basic philosophy is to generate various/all possible solutions to a given game level using the player character as the main agent, and gameplay actions as the basic elements of solution generation. The authors present a fully-implemented prototype which uses the blockbuster game HitmanTM as an application. This system uses Heuristic Search Planning to generate level solutions, each legal game action being described as a planning operator. The description of the initial state, the level’s objective as well as the level layout, constitute the input data. Other parameters for the simulation include the Hitman’s style, which influences the choice of certain actions and privileges a certain style of solution (e.g. stealth versus violent). As a design tool, it seemed appropriate to generate visual output which would be consistent with the current design process. In order to achieve this, the authors have adapted original HitmanTM storyboards for their use with a generated solution: they attach elements of storyboards to the planning operators so that a complete solution generates a comic strip similar to an instantiated storyboard for the solution generated. The authors illustrate system behaviour with specific examples of solution generation