HCC: Small: Plan-Based Models of Narrative Structure for Virtual Environments

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The primary objective of this research is to develop new cognitively informed plan-based models of narrative action and to demonstrate that these models can be used both to control a virtual environment and to make effective predictions about the results of users' mental models of the stories that they characterize. Motivated by psychological models of plans and plan reasoning, this research builds on prior work in plan generation and plan-related communication to develop an architecture for creating understandable interaction in narrative-oriented virtual environments. The specific research program can be divided into two high-level thrusts: 1) Developing new generative knowledge representation schemes for the control of narrative action, focusing on the structures of conflict and goal dynamics. 2) Formally validating the results from the items via large-scale empirical evaluations. This work will develop computational models of narrative, focusing on elements of creativity in narrative (as defined roughly by coherence and expectation violation). The project will explore the hypothesis that creativity in the design of many artifacts (and in the design of narrative in particular) is not only a property of the algorithms used to create the artifacts but also a property of how the artifacts are experienced or understood by human users.This work will have a significant impact on the theory and understanding of the relationships between computation and cognition, particularly in the context of narrative. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the research objectives, the project will produce significant advances in both computer science and cognitive science. It is anticipated that the resulting model will serve as a foundation for a new generation of tools that support mixed-initiative virtual world design, particularly focusing on the generation of narrative systems. In addition, the research will explore the use of the models to create customized, context-sensitive storylines for computer game-based learning environments. The project will contribute to the infrastructure of science and education by training new researchers (graduate research assistants) in an area that is broadly multidisciplinary (computer science, cognitive science and narrative theory). These new researchers will gain from the project a unique integrated view of the contributing disciplines. The project will train undergraduates through involvement in formal and informal research exposure efforts supported in part by REU supplements.