2001-2002 Ashby Dialogue

Future Directions in Interactive Narrative:

Artificial Intelligence and the Narrative Arts

An unprecedented dialogue is emerging among researchers in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), researchers and practitioners in the narrative arts, and cognitive scientists who study narrative understanding.  A technology-enabled revolution in the narrative arts is in progress. Researchers in AI are studying the narrative arts with the goal of creating computer programs to assist with or even to perform tasks traditionally performed by human artists such as cinematography, script writing, animation, and acting. Before such computer programs can be designed, it is necessary for the designers of AI to study the creative processes involved, both the processes of the artist and of the audience. At the same time, those involved in the narrative arts are excited by possibilities afforded by the new media.  During the 2001-2002 academic year interested University of North Carolina at Greensboro students and faculty can participate in this exchange of ideas through the Ashby Dialogue.  We will meet once or twice a month during the Fall semester in order to create a common ground of understanding among group members from the contributing disciplines.  At each meeting, a UNCG faculty member will make a presentation to the group or conduct a discussion of an assigned reading to introduce the other group members to his or her area of expertise as it relates to the goals of the dialogue.  During the spring semester the group will bring in outside speakers to enrich the discussion. 

Calendar of Events
 For updates, visit this web page: www.uncg.edu/~nlgreen/ashby.html

Meeting (UNCG campus locations) Speaker/Discussion Leader Title/Abstract
Thu. Oct. 3, 2002
3:30 pm
Room 335 Bryan
(Talk rescheduled from Apr. 26, 2002)		 Michael Young
NCSU		 AI in Narrative Games

The Mimesis Project explores the use of computer game engines as test-beds for research in AI, interactive entertainment and educational software.  Mimesis is a system architecture specifically designed to integrate AI control into an existing 3D gaming environment.
May 3 CSC589-01 student projects
To be rescheduled in Fall 2002
3:30 pm
Friday Apr. 26
Room 335 Bryan		 Michael Young
NCSU		 AI in Narrative Games
Fri. Apr. 17 Trip to VR lab at UNC Chapel Hill (by reservation only)
3:30 pm Wed. Apr. 10
Cone Auditorium/Weatherspoon Art Museum		 Joyce Rudinsky
UNC Chapel Hill		 Interactive video performance 
Mar. 20-23 Dance Performances:
John Gamble Dance Theater
3:15-4:30 pm
Friday Feb. 15
Room 140 McIver		 David Herman
NCSU		 Narrative and Its Media: Story Logic in Spoken Discourse
3:15-4:15 pm
Friday Feb. 1
Room 203 Brown (old Music Bldg.)		 Michael Frierson Narrative in Fiction Films

How do motion pictures create stories?  This question is intimately related to film editing, the process of constructing a coherent time and space for motion pictures.  Classical Hollywood continuity editing represents one style of filmic narration that is open communicative and stylistically unified.  Other styles of narration will be contrasted with this dominant style.
3:15-4:30 pm Friday Nov. 16
Room 335 Bryan		 Sue Lea Sue will give a short presentation on telepresence: what human factors are needed in a teleconference to make participants feel that they are really co-present.   Her talk is based upon a recent talk given by Henry Fuchs, who does research on Graphics and Visualization.  (For those who wish to follow up after today's discussion with a reading, see Lombard & Ditton, At the Heart of it All: The Concept of Presence, in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(2), September 1997.)

After Sue's talk we will discuss plans for next semester including plans for inviting speakers and whether there is interest in a field trip to the Virtual Reality lab at UNC.
3:15-5 pm Thursday
Oct. 18
Room 340HHP		 Jan Van Dyke Jan will show a video on use of computers by choreographer Merce Cunningham, as well as a video made by Michael Frierson of one of Jan's dances.  She also will show dance that can be viewed on the web, e.g. Bardo by Molissa Fenley.
3:00-5:00 Friday, Oct. 5
Room 135 McIver		 Christian Moraru Verisimilitude, Illusion, Convention: Narrative Representation and the 'Reality Effect'
3:00-4:30 Friday, Sept. 21
Room 254 McIver Building		 Amy Lixl-Purcell and Kevin Jones Amy, Kevin, and Design students will show some of the projects done at the UNCG Digital Design Studio related to nonlinear and interactive narrative (such as Kevin's Nemo expedition), as well as two works by Bill Seaman: Telling Motions and The Exquisite Mechanism of Shivers.
3-4:30 Friday, Sept. 7, 2001

Room 335 Bryan Building

 Nancy Green Nancy will guide discussion of a paper, Interactive Pedagogical Drama, describing Carmen's Bright Ideas, a state-of-the-art AI-based animated narrative system. Rather than discussing the technical details presented in the paper, the goal of this informal presentation is to stimulate discussion on the ways in which the narrative arts provide a foundation for building such systems. Please take a look at the paper before our meeting and come prepared to discuss these issues. We will also plan some of our future meetings at this time. (slides from Nancy's talk)

Participating UNCG Departments and Faculty

(Participant list under construction: please send faculty name and contact information to nlgreen@uncg.edu if you wish to be added to this list.)

Art Kevin Jones, Amy Lixl-Purcell
Broadcasting and Cinema  Anthony Fragola,  Michael Frierson
Computer Science Nancy Green (Ashby Dialogue Coordinator), Sue Lea
Dance Ann Dils, Jan Van Dyke 
English Marilyn Lombardi, Christian Moraru


Outside UNCG Links

AAAI Spring 2002 Symposium on AI and Interactive Entertainment
Alice (CMU) :  Virtual World authoring tool (free, easy 3D graphics for the WWW)
Cyberart : AI as artist (paints and writes "poetry")
Dialog Engine Project Resources (compilation of links on interactive narrative)
Entertainment Technology Center (CMU)
Gesture and Narrative Language Group (MIT Media Lab)
Institute for Creative Technology (USC ISI)
International Conference on Virtual Storytelling, Avignon, France, Sept.26-28, 2001
InteractiveStory.net
Liquid Narrative Group (NCSU)
Narrative Intelligence (AAAI 1999 Fall Symposium)
UNC Interactive Virtual Reality page
Virtual Storytelling (U. Teesside)