behavior

behavioral animation

• 'intelligent' agents– actors have own [simplified] version of world
• simple sets of rules often result in interesting behavior patterns when multiple actors are put in the same environment [»]

steering behaviors

• craig reynolds [»]
• examples:
  • updating position (box chaser): box chases cursor [»]
  • updating direction (cone chaser): cone chases cursor [»]
  • instancing multiple actors: cones chase cursor [»]
  • static obstacle avoidance: box goes to goal [»]
  • dynamic avoidance: boxes go to center, avoid each other [»]
  • dynamic avoidance (w/Turn Limits): cones attracted to center, avoid each other [»]
  • breaking stable states (sharks): same as previous, but with random speeds/turns [»]
  • basic herding/flocking/schooling: cones chase cursor [»]
  • dynamic actor state (playing tag): red is "it", no tap backs [»]

FSM

• Finite State Machines: modeling operational states in readily visual way that translates well to code [»]
• simple ingredients:
  • states
  • input events
  • output events
• examples:
  • runner gets tired, rests, runs [»]
  • soda machine [»]

AI

• Artificial Intelligence: 'thinking-like' features
• AI paradox– implemented AI is no longer AI
• common tasks
  • searching (game opponents, choosing best move) [tic tac toe]
  • pathfinding (a special search problem) [A*]
  • learning (self-improving algorithms) [smart tron]
  • planning (goal-based decision making) [decision making for virtual actors]
  • seeing (robotic vision, image semantics algorithms)
  • speaking (speech synthesis, speech recognition)

AL / GA / GP

• Artificial Life / Genetic Algorithms / Genetic Programming: recreating biological phenomena, evolution
• intro to genetic algorithms [»]
• examples:
  • Conway's Game of Life [»]
  • Sim's creatures [»]
  • Creature Labs' Creatures [»]
  • Aesthetic Evolutionary Design [»]

links

• vrml proto library [»]
• game AI [»]
• AI links [»]
• art experiments in artificial life [»]