Our research lies in the broad domain of scenario control for dynamic virtual environments. This body of work focuses on methods to create realistic behaviors for simulated agents populating virtual environments and to adaptively manage the environment so that human subjects experience an orderly progression of events. For example, a virtual environment for training emergency room physicians or air traffic controllers might involve a series of situations where the succession of circumstances is based on a student's decisions, responses, and actions in the virtual environment.
Virtual environments present what appear to be conflicting demands on scenario control.
On one hand, computer generated agents must behave in consistent and believable ways in a complex, dynamic environment. They must interact with other simulated agents and subjects who have considerable freedom of action. On the other hand, experimental and training applications require that subjects be tested under controlled conditions. The essential aspects of events and situations must be repeated from trial to trial. The challenge we face is to create scenarios that reproduce the intended conditions without overly restricting the subject's actions and while maintaining dynamism, complexity, and spontaneity in agent behaviors.