Under the influence::Using natural language in interactive storytelling

Interacting in natural language with virtual actors is an important aspect of the development of future Interactive Storytelling systems. We describe a paradigm for speech interfaces in interactive storytelling based on the notion of influence. In this paradigm, the user is mainly a spectator who is however able to interfere with the course of action by issuing advice to the characters. This is achieved by recognising corresponding speech acts and mapping them to the plans which implement characters' behaviours in the story. We discuss some examples based on a preliminary, yet fully implemented, prototype

Self-explaining AI as an alternative to interpretable AI

The ability to explain decisions made by AI systems is highly sought after, especially in domains where human lives are at stake such as medicine or autonomous vehicles. While it is often possible to approximate the input-output relations of deep neural networks with a few human-understandable rules, the discovery of the double descent phenomena suggests that such approximations do not accurately capture the mechanism by which deep neural networks work. Double descent indicates that deep neural networks typically operate by smoothly interpolating between data points rather than by extracting a few high level rules. As a result, neural networks trained on complex real world data are inherently hard to interpret and prone to failure if asked to extrapolate. To show how we might be able to trust AI despite these problems we introduce the concept of self-explaining AI. Self-explaining AIs are capable of providing a human-understandable explanation of each decision along with confidence levels for both the decision and explanation. For this approach to work, it is important that the explanation actually be related to the decision, ideally capturing the mechanism used to arrive at the explanation. Finally, we argue it is important that deep learning based systems include a "warning light" based on techniques from applicability domain analysis to warn the user if a model is asked to extrapolate outside its training distribution. For a video presentation of this talk see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py7PVdcu7WY& .Comment: 10pgs, 2 column forma

Integration of DFDs into a UML - based model-driven engineering approach

The main aim of this article is to discuss how the functional and the object-oriented views can be inter-played to represent the various modeling perspectives of embedded systems.We discuss whether the object-oriented modeling paradigm, the predominant one to develop software at the present time, is also adequate for modeling embedded software and how it can be used with the functional paradigm.More specifically, we present how the main modeling tool of the traditional structured methods, data flow diagrams, can be integrated in an object-oriented development strategy based on the unified modeling language. The rationale behind the approach is that both views are important for modeling purposes in embedded systems environments, and thus a combined and integrated model is not only useful, but also fundamental for developing complex systems. The approach was integrated in amodel-driven engineering process, where tool support for the models used was provided. In addition, model transformations have been specified and implemented to automate the process.We exemplify the approach with an IPv6 router case study.FEDER -Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(HH-02-383

Motion Rail: A Virtual Reality Level Crossing Training Application

This paper presents the development and usability testing of a Virtual Reality (VR) based system named 'Motion Rail' for training children on railway crossing safety. The children are to use a VR head mounted device and a controller to navigate the VR environment to perform a level crossing task and they will receive instant feedback on pass or failure on a display in the VR environment. Five participants consisting of two male and three females were considered for the usability test. The outcomes of the test was promising, as the children were very engaging and will like to adopt this training approach in future safety training

Developing Ontologies withing Decentralized Settings

This chapter addresses two research questions: “How should a well-engineered methodology facilitate the development of ontologies within communities of practice?” and “What methodology should be used?” If ontologies are to be developed by communities then the ontology development life cycle should be better understood within this context. This chapter presents the Melting Point (MP), a proposed new methodology for developing ontologies within decentralised settings. It describes how MP was developed by taking best practices from other methodologies, provides details on recommended steps and recommended processes, and compares MP with alternatives. The methodology presented here is the product of direct first-hand experience and observation of biological communities of practice in which some of the authors have been involved. The Melting Point is a methodology engineered for decentralised communities of practice for which the designers of technology and the users may be the same group. As such, MP provides a potential foundation for the establishment of standard practices for ontology engineering

Comparing Different Storytelling Approaches for Virtual Guides in Digital Immersive Museums

Virtual museums are becoming increasingly popular, especially thanks to the recent spread of low-cost immersive technologies enabling even small cultural realities to enrich their technology-based offer. The growing availability of computational power and high-quality visual elements enables the use of virtual characters in order to add depth to the virtual visit experience, up to nowadays often limited to the exploration of lifeless environments. This paper presents a pilot study aimed at investigating the positive effects that the use of avatars can provide to a virtual cultural experience, proposing a virtual museum with three different alternatives of storytelling, including one featuring virtual humans, and comparing the results in terms of engagement and understanding of the proposed content

User Aspects of Explanation Aware CBR Systems

This paper addresses the problem of embedding explanationaware intelligent systems into a workplace environment. We outline an approach with three di#erent perspectives, focusing on the work process as a whole as well as user interaction from an interface and a system view