For the first time, a comprehensive collection of the latest developments in scripting and representation languages for life-like characters. The text introduces toolkits for authoring animated characters which further supports the practicality and ease of use of this new interface technology. As life-like characters is a vibrant research area, various applications have been designed and implemented. The text covers the most successful and promising applications, ranging from product presentation and student training to knowledge integration and interactive gaming. It also discusses the key challenges in the area and provides design guidelines for employing life-like characters.

Inhalt

I Introduction.- Introducing the Cast for Social Computing: Life-Like Characters.- II Languages and Tools for Life-Like Characters.- Representing and Parameterizing Agent Behaviors.- Toward a Unified Scripting Language: Lessons Learned from Developing CML and AML.- APML, a Markup Language for Believable Behavior Generation.- STEP: a Scripting Language for Embodied Agents.- gUI: Specifying Complete User Interaction.- A Behavior Language: Joint Action and Behavioral Idioms.- BEAT: the Behavior Expression Animation Toolkit.- Galatea: Open-Source Software for Developing Anthropomorphic Spoken Dialog Agents.- MPML and SCREAM: Scripting the Bodies and Minds of Life-Like Characters.- III Systems and Applications.- Great Expectations: Prediction in Entertainment Applications.- Shallow and Inner Forms of Emotional Intelligence in Advisory Dialog Simulation.- Web Information Integration Using Multiple Character Agents.- Expressive Behaviors for Virtual Worlds.- Playing with Agents - Agents in Social and Dramatic Games.- A Review of the Development of Embodied Presentation Agents and Their Application Fields.- Interface Agents That Facilitate Knowledge Interactions Between Community Members.- Animated Agents Capable of Understanding Natural Language and Performing Actions.- IV Synopsis.- What Makes Characters Seem Life-Like?.- Some Issues in the Design of Character Scripting and Specification Languages - a Personal View.- Online Material.