An autonomous satellite architecture integrating deliberative reasoning and behavioural intelligence

This paper describes a method for the design of autonomous spacecraft, based upon behavioral approaches to intelligent robotics. First, a number of previous spacecraft automation projects are reviewed. A methodology for the design of autonomous spacecraft is then presented, drawing upon both the European Space Agency technological center (ESTEC) automation and robotics methodology and the subsumption architecture for autonomous robots. A layered competency model for autonomous orbital spacecraft is proposed. A simple example of low level competencies and their interaction is presented in order to illustrate the methodology. Finally, the general principles adopted for the control hardware design of the AUSTRALIS-1 spacecraft are described. This system will provide an orbital experimental platform for spacecraft autonomy studies, supporting the exploration of different logical control models, different computational metaphors within the behavioral control framework, and different mappings from the logical control model to its physical implementation

Gameplay experience in a gaze interaction game

Assessing gameplay experience for gaze interaction games is a challenging task. For this study, a gaze interaction Half-Life 2 game modification was created that allowed eye tracking control. The mod was deployed during an experiment at Dreamhack 2007, where participants had to play with gaze navigation and afterwards rate their gameplay experience. The results show low tension and negative affects scores on the gameplay experience questionnaire as well as high positive challenge, immersion and flow ratings. The correlation between spatial presence and immersion for gaze interaction was high and yields further investigation. It is concluded that gameplay experience can be correctly assessed with the methodology presented in this paper.Comment: pages 49-54, The 5th Conference on Communication by Gaze Interaction - COGAIN 2009: Gaze Interaction For Those Who Want It Most, ISBN: 978-87-643-0475-

Trends and Techniques in Visual Gaze Analysis

Visualizing gaze data is an effective way for the quick interpretation of eye tracking results. This paper presents a study investigation benefits and limitations of visual gaze analysis among eye tracking professionals and researchers. The results were used to create a tool for visual gaze analysis within a Master's project.Comment: pages 89-93, The 5th Conference on Communication by Gaze Interaction - COGAIN 2009: Gaze Interaction For Those Who Want It Most, ISBN: 978-87-643-0475-

On-board emergent scheduling of autonomous spacecraft payload operations

This paper describes a behavioral competency level concerned with emergent scheduling of spacecraft payload operations. The level is part of a multi-level subsumption architecture model for autonomous spacecraft, and it functions as an action selection system for processing a spacecraft commands that can be considered as 'plans-as-communication'. Several versions of the selection mechanism are described, and their robustness is qualitatively compared

Narrative Structure in Trans-Reality Role-Playing Games: Integrating Story Construction from Live Action, Table Top and Computer-Based Role-Playing Games

Thematic Areas: Under Development, Theoretical Perspectives, History and Typology of Games, Design and Game Architectures, Game Aesthetics and Storytelling 1000 Word Abstract: Trans-reality games are games combining virtual gaming with game experiences staged and played in physical environments. Mobile, ubiquitous and pervasive gaming technologies provide a facilitating infrastructure for trans-reality games. The technical infrastructure must integrate physical game elements with virtual game elements, ideally allowing game play and components to move as "seamlessly" as possible through these spaces as parts of a single coherent game world. This means the preservation of the sense of identity of game objects through their manifestation in different physical and virtual realities, the propagation of the significance of game actions and events through these realities, and game mechanics that weave those events into a coherent game concept. The development of design principles and methodologies for trans-reality games requires a model of the relationships between the functional roles of players and technologies, how these vary with different game staging and scenarios, and how these variations can be integrated within games that involve different modes of physical, virtual and mixed reality game play. In the case of trans-reality role-playing games (TRRPGs) these questions extend to issues of characterization and story construction. The concept of a TRRPG extends and evolves existing role-playing game (RPG) forms including table-top (TTRPG), live-action (LARP), computer-based, and especially massively multiplayer on-line (MMORPG), RPGs. A game system consisting of core rules and basic models for such things as characters and objects, their features and capabilities, combat, economics and trading, can often be used across all of these different contexts. However, despite this trans-mediality of the game system, the experience of characterization and narrative depth among different RPG forms is fundamentally different, largely due to radically different modes of story construction among the different forms. Previous work has analysed the relationships between simulation, game play and narrativity in computer games (see Aarseth, 1997, Frasca, 2001, and Lindley, 2003). These distinctions can be generalized into a model of the structure of all RPG forms, including table-top and live-action RPGs. The simulation level generalizes to a simulation/realization level providing a world within which game and story experiences take place. The game world may be realized with a literal representation (the game space stands for itself), synthetic or fictional representation (the world is realized symbolically), or some hybrid of literal and synthetic elements. The simulation level also includes foundations for realizing a range of possible literal or symbolic actions. This is the lowest level of temporal design in a ludic system upon which is superimposed a game level that includes rules specifying actions constituting valid game moves together with objectives for players to achieve by the performance of game moves. The time structure of each move requires a higher level of design than the simulation/realization level. However, the potential for players to choose moves results in a very loosely predefined time structure above the level of moves within the design of a game. Above the level of game moves, narrative is perceived when an experience in time has an overall shape conforming to a specific narrative pattern, such as the three-act restorative structure. This is the highest level of predefined time structure. In general a narrative is a representation of events. In computer games this often has the form of a filmic story told by cut scenes and framing the play experience (performance of moves) at a high level. Structural theories of textual and verbal narrative posit a generative substrate (a cultural space of possible stories) underlying the diegesis or specific objects and events of a particular narrative. The diegesis and its events constitute a story. The selection and presentation of elements of the story, with expressive variations of emphasis, constitute a plot. The plot is expressed in an act of telling, ie. a particular narrative. The available text is the narrative, while the other layers of meaning are inferred from the text and its relationship with other texts. Considering narrative construction and encoding within RPGs reveals very different relationships to this model. A TTRPG may be based upon published game worlds, scenarios and systems including elements of classic textual narrative. This provides the foundation for a game master and group of players to improvise a new (primarily verbal) narrative through the unfolding play sessions of a TTRPG campaign. Improvisation involves assembling sequences of fictive blocks, basic fragments or units of fictional/narrative significance that may be strung together to form a higher level narrative (Mackay, 2001). The fictive blocks include moves and text provided by the game system together with those drawn from the players’ imaginations and experiences. A computer-based MMORPG, however, provides players with a finite and fixed set of possible moves, together with the media foundation for realising moves as audiovisual and simulation events. Hence the MMORPG player generally chooses from predefined fictive blocks, supplemented by textual interaction with other players via chat facilities. This is a severely constrained improvisational freedom compared with the other RPG forms; the computer RPG removes much of the space for individual interpretation and imaginative elaboration by providing very explicit visualisations together with very limited options for improvisation. Collaborative story formation in LARPs is different again. While a TTRPG collaboratively produces a collective text upon which individual acts of imagination build, a LARP consists of a kind of performative multitext; there is no central social representation (or narrative), and there is a different story for each player, none occupying a privileged position as keeper of a primary story. The LARP setting may vary in its diegetic freedom between that of a MMORPG and that of a TTRPG, depending upon the literalness of representation of its setting, costumes, props and performances. LARP performances have the full advantage of all avenues of direct, face-to-face human communication, leading to the possibility of the highest levels of immersive and emotional experience. A trans-reality RPG (TRRPG) must integrate the different narrative modalities of RPG forms into a coherent overall system. This requires a careful mapping of player roles and technical mechanisms onto narrative functions in ways that preserve or enhance the strengths of the different play modalities involved, and ideally feed the results of play from their strong modalities into the other modes to enrich the overall TRRPG experience. REFERENCES Aarseth E. J. Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature, The Johns Hoplins University Press, 1997. Frasca G. Videogames of the Oppressed – Videogames as a Means for Critical Thinking and Debate, Masters Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2001. Lindley C. A. 2003 "Game Taxonomies: A High Level Framework for Game Analysis and Design", Gamasutra feature article, 3 October 2003, http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20031003/lindley_01.shtml. Mackay D. 2001 The Fantasy Role-Playing Game: A New Performing Art, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

Doo bee doo bee doo

We explore the design and implementation of Frank, a strict functional programming language with a bidirectional effect type system designed from the ground up around a novel variant of Plotkin and Pretnar's effect handler abstraction. Effect handlers provide an abstraction for modular effectful programming: a handler acts as an interpreter for a collection of commands whose interfaces are statically tracked by the type system. However, Frank eliminates the need for an additional effect handling construct by generalising the basic mechanism of functional abstraction itself. A function is but the special case of a Frank operator that interprets no commands. Moreover, Frank's operators can be multihandlers which simultaneously interpret commands from several sources at once, without disturbing the direct style of functional programming with values. Effect typing in Frank employs a novel form of effect polymorphism which avoids mentioning effect variables in source code. This is achieved by propagating an ambient ability inwards, rather than accumulating unions of potential effects outwards. With the ambient ability describing the effects that are available at a certain point in the code, it can become necessary to reconfigure access to the ambient ability. A primary goal is to be able to encapsulate internal effects, eliminating a phenomenon we call effect pollution. Moreover, it is sometimes desirable to rewire the effect flow between effectful library components. We propose adaptors as a means for supporting both effect encapsulation and more general rewiring. Programming with effects and handlers is in its infancy. We contribute an exploration of future possibilities, particularly in combination with other forms of rich type systems

Generic Viewer Interaction Semantics for Dynamic Virtual Video Synthesis

The FRAMES project is developing a system for video database search, content-based retrieval, and virtual video program synthesis. For dynamic synthesis applications, a video program is specified at a high level using a virtual video prescription. The prescription is a document specifying the video structure, including specifications for generating associative chains of video components. Association specifications are sent to an association engine during video synthesis. User selection of a virtual video prescription together with the default behavior of the prescription interpreter and the association engine define a tree structured search of specifications, queries, and video data components. This tree structure supports generic user interaction functions that either modify the traversal path across this tree structure, or modify the actual tree structure dynamically during video synthesis

A game based approach to improve traders' decision-making

Purpose: The development of a game based approach to improving the decision-making capabilities of financial traders through attention to improving the regulation of emotions during trading. Design/methodology/approach: The project used a design-based research approach to integrate the contributions of a highly inter-disciplinary team. The approach was underpinned by considerable stakeholder engagement to understand the ‘ecology of practices’ in which this learning approach should be embedded. Findings: Taken together, our 35 laboratory, field and evaluation studies provide much support for the validity of our game based learning approach, the learning elements which make it up, and the value of designing game-based learning to fit within an ecology of existing practices. Originality/value: The novelty of the work described in the paper comes from the focus in this research project of combining knowledge and skills from multiple disciplines informed by a deep understanding of the context of application to achieve the successful development of a Learning Pathway, which addresses the transfer of learning to the practice environment Key words: Design-based research, emotion-regulation, disposition–effect, financial traders, serious games, sensor-based game

Information Retrieval and Link Authoring in an SGML-based Editor

This document describes the integration of Grif, an SGML editor developed at Inria and marketed by Grif.Sa, with Sigma, a text retrieval tool developed by CSIRO. The integration provides Grif with flexible search and dynamic hypertext linking functions, and enhances the Sigma system to support search and display of SGML documents using a structured editor. The integration also clarifies the requirements for more generic facilities for document search, linking, and indexing for the respective systems as modular components of an open systems environment