Conference presentation: ShaMAN - an Agent Meta-model for Computer Games (with notes)

26 Sep 200826 Sep 2008 HCSE-2008, Pisa (EIS-2008)HCSE-2008, Pisa (EIS-2008) ##11

ShaMAN: an Agent Meta-model for Computer Games

Steve Goschnick1, Sandrine Balbo2 & Liz Sonenberg3

Interaction Design Group1,2,3, & Agent Lab1,3

Department of Information SystemsUniversity of Melbourne

[email protected]


AO and HCSE – a fit? Implicitly, some AO architectures, frameworks and

methodologies suggest good compatibility, e.g. BDI – via Folk Psychology ShadowBoard – via Analytical Psychology


A Gap in Agent Architectures:

The Human Computer Interface is important in AO systems, as it was in OO.

Data Modellers know something in general about models and meta-models.

This work is aimed at enhancing AO concepts, architectures and technology wrt application to computer games in particularly.


Most AO architectures…


Comparison of concepts (AO)


Meta-model differences


The ShaMAN Meta-Model


MAS for Computer Games & Rich UI Apps




The Locale sub-section of meta-model


Games and Rich User Interfaces


AO and HCSE – a fit? This work is aimed at enhancing AO

concepts, architectures and technology wrt application to computer games in particularly, however:

Much of it generalises to: AO applications with a graphic or rich media

user interface. Human-in-the-loop AO systems, that use a

computer screen within the human-agent interaction interface.

1


ShaMAN: an Agent Meta-model for Computer Games

Steve Goschnick1, Sandrine Balbo2 & Liz Sonenberg3

Interaction Design Group1,2,3, & Agent Lab1,3

Department of Information SystemsUniversity of Melbourne

[email protected]

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AO and HCSE – a fit? Implicitly, some AO architectures, frameworks and

methodologies suggest good compatibility, e.g. BDI – via Folk Psychology ShadowBoard – via Analytical Psychology

Does the Agent-Oriented (AO) paradigm of software development fit a Human Centred Software Engineering approach?

Yes it does as several AO architectures are directly based on human psychology models, including:

* BDI (Beliefs, Desires and Intentions) based on Folk Psychology.

* Shadowboard based on Analytical Psychology (Jungian and Psychology of Sub-Selves).

In the process of building more intelligent software systems researchers have moved abstraction beyond just abstracting objects and procedures, to the abstraction of mentalistic notions draw from Psychology.

In doing so they have created models that are tailor-made for human-centred software engineering.

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A Gap in Agent Architectures:

The Human Computer Interface is important in AO systems, as it was in OO.

Data Modellers know something in general about models and meta-models.

This work is aimed at enhancing AO concepts, architectures and technology wrt application to computer games in particularly.

Intended emphasis:

1. That computer screens remain an integral part of the human-agent interface, for the sorts of applications that the AO paradigm can and could be used for, for some long time to come.

2. While AO researchers are doing more in the meta-model area than ever before, other paradigms have experience and expertise in meta-models and the quality of models. While AO researchers are well aware of the OO modelling notations – e.g. they use UML class diagram, in the main – ER modelling from the Information Engineering/Analysis field, is less well known, but holds some useful insights.

3. While computer games are some distance away from most enterprise applications, the SHAMAN meta-model presented here, has some generic features applicable to other areas of AO application.


Most AO architectures…

Prior to the ShaMAN, meta-model most Agent-Oriented meta-model, architectures or frameworks, only include some subset of these entities.


Comparison of concepts (AO)


Meta-model differences

The color/shaded areas of the table show the extra entities and concepts included in the ShaMAN model, over-and-above the other models examined here.

Note: Apart from being useful in computer games, these extra entities in the ShaMAN model, are slowly being backstitched into various social networking platforms, in their bottom-up iterative approach to system design.

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Intended emphasis:

1. While the model does have a lot of entities, it has 8 which have/are hierarchies – Goal, Role, Agent, SocialWorld, Task, Resource, Locale and Ontology – about which the model can be examined and better comprehended in sub-models – as follows in coming slides.

2. The model is quite readable in terse natural language statements – Noun-verb-noun: Role comes with Responsibility; Goal is a part of Responsibility; Locale is populated by Inhabitants; etc. in the ER and UML class-model traditions

Possible Questions:

Qs.1: The meta-model looks awfully complex: how are we ever going to get enterprise analysts (any domain application analysts/developers, for that matter) to take on-board AO concepts?

An Ans: Yes, the SHAMAN meta-model has 29 entities, but hey, who says AO was meant to be simple. The sorts of applications that AO could/is being used for, includes some of the most complex applications on the planet – which probably includes some of the computer games out there.

An Ans: Don’t confuse a system architecture, with a computer language. While a UML model for the whole Java OO platform (say), would entail a very large UML model, the language could be modelled with a single entity called Object, with a self-referencing one-to-many (single inheritance) relationship: powerful programming model, but one with lousy literal communication potential.

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MAS for Computer Games & Rich UI Apps

Intended emphasis:

1. That, in common with the Web interface, game interfaces are generally non-uniform in the way that one interacts and navigates about them (E.g. There are few popular games that adhere to Windows UI Guidelines, say). The last thing a game developer (and a web-site designer) wants, is for their creation to look like or be very similar to everybody elses. So standard interface components and specific guidelines, are not well regarded. Guidelines for the usability of these sorts of applications, are all about what ‘not to do’ – leaving everything else possible.

2. A minimal UI concept that might be / should be, taken into an agent meta-model that intends to use screens in the human-agent interaction process (as SHAMAN does), is ‘area’ (e.g. a polygon). It affords an interaction with a human via a pointing device of one sort or another.

3. Things about the ‘Locale’ – such as this bedroom – may represent ‘Resources’ represented elsewhere in the system – e.g. The clock-radio on the bedside table; and the keyboard at the foot of the bed.

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Intended emphasis:

1. While the model does have a lot of entities, it has 8 which have/are hierarchies – Goal, Role, Agent, SocialWorld, Task, Resource, Locale and Ontology – about which the model can be examined and better comprehended in sub-models – as follows in coming slides.

2. The model is quite readable in terse natural language statements – Noun-verb-noun: Role comes with Responsibility; Goal is a part of Responsibility; Locale is populated by Inhabitants; etc. in the ER and UML class-model traditions

Possible Questions:

Qs.1: The meta-model looks awfully complex: how are we ever going to get enterprise analysts (any domain application analysts/developers, for that matter) to take on-board AO concepts?

An Ans: Yes, the SHAMAN meta-model has 29 entities, but hey, who says AO was meant to be simple. The sorts of applications that AO could/is being used for, includes some of the most complex applications on the planet – which probably includes some of the computer games out there.

An Ans: Don’t confuse a system architecture, with a computer language. While a UML model for the whole Java OO platform (say), would entail a very large UML model, the language could be modelled with a single entity called Object, with a self-referencing one-to-many (single inheritance) relationship: powerful programming model, but one with lousy literal communication potential.


The Locale sub-section of meta-model


Games and Rich User Interfaces


AO and HCSE – a fit? This work is aimed at enhancing AO

concepts, architectures and technology wrt application to computer games in particularly, however:

Much of it generalises to: AO applications with a graphic or rich media

user interface. Human-in-the-loop AO systems, that use a

computer screen within the human-agent interaction interface.

Technology

Conference presentation: ShaMAN - an Agent Meta-model for Computer Games (with notes)