Emergent and Guided Narrative for Training and Education in Virtual Worlds

1. Emergent and Guided Narrative for Training and Education in Virtual Worlds Mark Riedl Research ScientistInstitute for Creative TechnologiesUniversity of Southern California riedl@ict.usc.edu

2. Storytelling • Storytelling is a pervasive part of our world and our culture • Stories in entertainment: • Movies; Novels; Games • Stories for training and education: • Motivation; Illustration; Case studies • Can story be applied to interactive learning system?

3. Story in Interactive Training? • Interactive case study • Evaluate and analyze  direct experience • Interactivity means trainee can do things differently from original story • How to ensure relevance of experience plus trainee agency? • Hypothesis: We can use story to manage the interactive experience of the trainee • Not using story to teach • Story establishes relevant learning situations • Separation of scenario from instruction

4. Climax Crisis Incitingincident Fallingaction tension Risingaction Dénouement Exposition time Introduction to Narrative • What is narrative? • Recounting of a sequence of events • Continuant subject • What is story? • Narrative plus something else • Point • Structured plot • Dramatic arc • Focus on plot level for interactive systems

5. Emergent Narrative • Narrative Psychology • Bruner: “Construction of reality” • Gerrig, Green: Transportation theory and the active audience • Emergent narrative “systems”: • Everyday life • Simulation • Sims, MMORPGs, Second Life • However… • Story doesn’t always emerge • Life and simulations don’t always invoke narrative thought

6. Guided Narrative • Analogous to story telling • Constraint of emergence • Audience perspective: emerging story • Teller perspective: carefully pre-meditated sequence of events designed to invoke narrative thought • Guided narrative “systems”: • Movies, novels, plays • Most video games • However… • Guidance precludes interactivity (?)

7. Narrative and Pedagogy • Emergent narrative  constructivist learning • Guided narrative  guided teaching • Distinction between discovery learning and discovery teaching • Clark, Mayer: Discovery learning is not always appropriate • Potential benefits: • Engagement and motivation • Situated learning through dramatic role-playing • Memory and “well-structured” narrative • Durative belief change • Transfer of tacit knowledge

8. From Narrative to “Interactive Narrative” • Sternberg: Expertise from experience and reflection • Leadership; Teamwork; Decision-making; Situation awareness; Social awareness; Cultural awareness • Narrative as a way of transferring knowledge from experts to novices • Narrative paradox • Narrative has pedagogical value • Trainee agency • Solution: Intelligent experience guidance • From emergent narrative to guided narrative • Balance between emergence and guidance

9. Intelligent Experience Guidance • Interactive Storytelling • Computer tells a story • User is interactive participant • User actions incorporated into narrative and can change the direction and/or outcome of the story • Emergence vs. Guidance • Common approach: Branching

10. Interactive Narrative for Training • Hypothesis: Expertise through narrative-mediated experience • Leadership; Teamwork; Decision-making; Situation awareness; Social awareness; Cultural awareness • Relevant learning situations • Goal: A system that uses story to control a trainee’s experiences in a training simulation • Emergence and guidance • Requirements: • Constructive simulation  emergence • Relevant learning situations guidance

11. IN-TALE Proof-of-Concept • Interactive Narrative – Tacit Adaptive Leader Experience • Narrative-based training simulation • Trainee is role-player • Simulation populated by virtual humans • Story describes expected sequence of relevant learning situations • Story adapted dynamically to trainee’s actions • Branching generated dynamically • Overcome authoring limitations • Potentially higher degree of branching

12. Example Story • Back story • The marketplace • The characters: Saleh, Hassan • The scenario • Hassan (Shi’a) sets himself up in favorable light • Saleh (Sunni) is demonstrates anti-American sentiment • Hassan sneaks off to a nearby Mosque and acquiresa bomb from an insurgent conspirator • Hassan secretly plants the bomb in Saleh’s area • Bomb goes off but is a dud – no one gets hurt • Player manages ensuing chaos and attempts to assess blame • … • Mixed-simulation control • Simulation – virtual world with autonomous, reactive agents • Story – expected trainee experience • Manage the tension between simulation and story Relevantlearningsituations

13. Automated Story Director Automated Story Director/Generator • Automated Director is bridge between simulation and story • Directs character agents • Monitors progress of trainee through story • Dynamically adapts story to keep trainee progressing towards relevant situations • Trainee may inadvertently avoid the relevant situations • Trainee may make it impossible to progress towards the relevant situations • Maintains user perception ofself-agency Directives Directives Agent1 Agent2 Updates

14. Story represented as a partially-ordered plan Complete story specification Causal analysis Plan repair Automated Story Generator Initial State not (detained Has.) Player causes: (detained Has.) 1: Acquire (Has., bomb1) (has Has. bomb1) not (detained Has.) 2: Plant-Bomb (Has., bomb1) Player causes: NOT (armed bomb1) (armed bomb1) (planted bomb1) 3: Dud (bomb1) (chaos market) Outcome

15. Intermediate State (detained Has.) (criminal Has.) (criminal Has.) (detained Has.) 4: Release (Has.) (detained Has.) (detained Has.) 1: Acquire (Has., bomb1) (detained Has.) (has Has. bomb1) (armed bomb1) 2: Plant (Has., bomb1) (armed bomb1) (armed bomb1) (planted bomb1) 3: Dud (bomb1) Outcome Intermediate State Intermediate State (detained Has.) (detained Con.) (detained Con.) (detained Con.) (detained Has.) (detained Con.) 4: Plant (Con., bomb2) 5: Agitate (Con, crowd, Has.) (armed bomb2) (planted bomb2) (agitated crowd) (armed bomb2) (agitated crowd) 5: Dud (bomb2) 6: Riot-Protest (crowd, Has.) Outcome Outcome Initial State (detained Has.) (detained Has.) 1: Acquire (Has., bomb1) (has Has. bomb1) 2: Plant (Has., bomb1) (armed bomb1) (planted bomb1) 3: Dud (bomb1) Outcome

16. Hassan Saleh Hassan secretly plants bomb in Saleh’s area Bomb goes off as a dud Automated Story Direction Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Hassan al-Sagheer

17. Hassan Saleh Hassan secretly plants bomb in Saleh’s area Bomb goes off as a dud Automated Story Direction Mohammed sets himself up in favorable light Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator

18. Hassan Saleh Hassan secretly plants bomb in Saleh’s area Bomb goes off as a dud Automated Story Direction Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator

19. Hassan Saleh Hassan secretly plants bomb in Saleh’s area Hassan is taken to detention Bomb goes off as a dud Hassan’s insurgent conspirator plants a bomb Bomb goes off as a dud Automated Story Adaptation Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Trainee catches Hassan with bomb

20. Hassan Saleh Automated Story Adaptation Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Trainee catches Hassan with bomb Hassan is taken to detention Hassan’s insurgent conspirator plants a bomb Bomb goes off as a dud

21. Hassan Saleh Automated Story Adaptation Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Trainee catches Hassan with bomb Hassan is taken to detention Hassan’s insurgent conspirator plants a bomb Bomb goes off as a dud

22. Instruction and Interactive Narrative • Role of Automated Story Director in education: • Coerce the trainee into situations where learning can and should occur • Does not guarantee that trainee will learn • Interactive storytelling should be part of a larger program • Scenario and instruction are separate but complimentary • Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) • Models and monitors student • Remediates when it detects buggy reasoning/knowledge

23. Intelligent Tutoring in Simulations Inter-session “Tutoring”: setting parameters Pre-practice Tutoring: preparation & prevention Post-practice Tutoring: reflection & improvement STORY ENGINE On-line Tutoring: support during practice

24. Intelligent Tutoring in Interactive Narrative • On-line tutoring • Diegetic or extra-diegetic tutor presence • Request story adaptations – add practice • Post-practice tutoring • Explanation of unobserved events and 2nd and 3rd order effects • Explainable AI • Inter-session tutoring • Request Story Director generate new scenarios • Tutor and Story Director: Separate but equal

25. Conclusions • AI technologies for interactive storytelling systems: • Automated narrative direction of virtual humans • Automated story generation • Expertise through experience • Storytelling and interactivity • Narrative and pedagogy • Narrative thought and constructivist learning  sense-making • Pedagogy and guided narrative focuses sense-making • Future work…

26. And they all lived happily ever after… The end.