CAREER: Automated Support for Novice Authorning of Interactive Drama

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The goal of this project is to enable novices (non-programmers and non-expert storytellers) to create interactive dramas (IDs), artificial intelligence (AI) based interactive story experiences with autonomous characters and dynamic plot progression. Accomplishing this goal requires answering the following research question: how can one incorporate storytelling and character creation theories from the theory of dramatic writing, as well as theories of storyboard layout from comics, into an AI model of story generation and character creation that collaborates with a human author to create an ID. Most research work in ID has focused on individual components, such as autonomous character architectures or story managers/generators, not on fully integrated systems with engaging content. This is primarily due to the difficulty of authoring; creating IDs currently requires large, interdisciplinary teams of AI researchers, story authors and domain experts. This project will address the authoring problem by combining novel work in story generation, novel work in visual interfaces for programming, and authoring insights from the only publicly fielded, complete ID (Facade).Enabling novice authoring of ID will have significant impact: as a new and powerful mode of personal expression, in applications of ID technology to education and training, and for engaging middle school and high-school students in computational expression. Unlike traditional videogames, ID focuses on interpersonal interaction, enabling rich and powerful game-like experiences that focus on meaningful social interaction with autonomous characters within a dynamically generated, changing story. Such technology is essential for serious games (games for education and training) that focus on people-to-people interaction, such as management training, and public service games that tackle complex topics such as racism. Currently, the construction of IDs requires teams of experts, putting them out of reach of individuals and organizations who are not technology and game design experts, but who wish to harness this powerful new medium. The goal of the project is to take the construction of ID out of the hands of experts, and make it available to everyone.