Forwarded message from [a2000pub@iiia.csic.es (Agents 2000 Publicity)] sent originally on Wed, 2 Feb 2000 12:43:11 +0100 (MET): : WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS : : Achieving Human-Like Behavior in Interactive Animated Agents : : June 3, 2000 : Barcelona, Spain : : in conjunction with : The Fourth International Conference on Autonomous Agents : http://www.iiia.csic.es/agents2000 : : Workshop objectives : ------------------- : : For more than 50 years, skilled artists have achieved surprisingly : human-like behavior in animated characters. Similar quality has yet to : be achieved in animated agents that can interact dynamically with : their users and their environment. This workshop will bring together : leading researchers in this area to assess the state of the art, : identify key research issues, and share new ideas. : : The last ten years have seen exciting new applications of animated : agents and rapid progress in the underlying technology. Animated : conversational agents coordinate nonverbal communicative behavior with : spoken dialogue to make human-computer interfaces more like : face-to-face conversation. Presentation agents integrate these : conversational skills and the use of visual aids into compelling : multimedia presentations. Animated pedagogical agents combine such : conversational and presentational skills with the ability to monitor : students' problem solving in interactive learning environments. : Agents cohabit virtual worlds with people to serve as companions, : teammates, or adversaries. In all these applications, animated agents : may appear as realistic humans, as animals, or as fictional creatures, : but they all share one thing in common: they attempt to mimic human : interactional behavior. : : While animated characters in the movies can rely on handcrafted : behavior created by skilled artists, interactive animated agents must : be driven by general computational models that produce appropriate : behavior in a wide range of situations. Operating in real time, : they must react appropriately to people and other agents, and they : must interact with objects in the virtual world without the : assumptions of a static environment and laborious keyframe : animation. The focus of this workshop is on the technical challenges : of designing such computational models of human-like behavior, and in : the utilization of such models to create realistic, expressive, and : seamless agent behavior. Behavior models include such things as : locomotion, gaze, gestures, object manipulations, facial displays, and : emotional expression. Examples of possible technical issues for : discussion include : - effective combinations of inverse kinematics, motion capture, and : keyframe animation : - believable blending of different movements and transitions between : them : - principles for action selection that ensure coherence in an agent's : behavior : - methods for ensuring that automatically generated behaviors meet : sufficiently high artistic and production standards : - coordinated generation of verbal and nonverbal behaviors : - timing and synchronization of nonverbal communicative movements with : speech : - behavior models that take into account the personality and emotional : state of the agent : - tools and methods for authoring interactive animated agents for new : virtual worlds and applications : : Workshop format : --------------- : : The workshop will be organized as a series of presentations and : panels. The presentations will be split into three areas: : - Assessments of the state of the art for some aspect of interactive : animated agents. For example, such a talk may focus on locomotion, : gaze, gesture, or facial movements. These talks will be given : sufficient time (e.g., 30-45 minutes) to clearly present the : capabilities and limitations of existing techniques. : - Analysis of existing systems. These talks will briefly describe : particular interactive animated agents that have been designed : and implemented, focusing on design criteria, lessons learned, : and key technical challenges that remain beyond the state of the : art. : - Innovative new ideas. The workshop will include a limited number of : talks that present particularly novel solutions to central problems : in developing interactive animated agents. The length of these : talks will lie somewhere between the longer state-of-the-art talks : and the shorter systems talks. : : All papers and talks should focus on computational models that control : the outward behavior of animated agents. We welcome discussions of : applications areas, studies of human behavior, models of agent : cognition, and techniques for multimodal input only as they relate to : controlling the outward behavior of animated agents. By maintaining : this focus for the workshop, we hope to achieve a more coherent : discussion aimed at the critical technical issues required for : continued progress in the field. : : Submission requirements : ----------------------- : : Attendance at the workshop will be by invitation only. People : interested in attending the workshop without giving a talk should : submit a one- or two-page description of their research interests. : People interested in giving a talk should submit a paper summarizing : the content of their proposed talk. The paper should not exceed 5 : pages (using 11pt and reasonable margins), and it should include : references to other papers in this area by the authors. All : submissions will be reviewed by at least two members of the program : committee. : : Submissions should be emailed to Jeff Rickel (rickel@isi.edu) in : plain text or PDF format by March 17. If email is not possible, a : hard copy can be sent to Dr. Rickel at the following address: : : 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 1001 : Marina del Rey, CA 90292 : : Authors are highly encouraged to send a VHS video of their work or a : pointer to a video that is available on the Web. : : Note: Workshop participants will be required to register for the : Agents 2000 main conference. : : Important dates : --------------- : : March 17, 2000 - Deadline for submission of papers to workshop chair : March 31, 2000 - Invitations for workshop sent out : June 3, 2000 - Tentative date for workshop : : Organizing committee : -------------------- : : Jeff Rickel, USC Information Sciences Institute, USA (chair) : W. Lewis Johnson, USC Information Sciences Institute, USA : James Lester, North Carolina State University, USA : : Program committee : ----------------- : : Elisabeth Andre, DFKI, Germany : Norman Badler, University of Pennsylvania, USA : Gene Ball, Microsoft, USA : Justine Cassell, MIT Media Lab, USA : Sonu Chopra, Lockheed Martin/GES, USA : W. Lewis Johnson, USC Information Sciences Institute, USA : James Lester, North Carolina State University, USA : Dominic Massauro, University of California at Santa Cruz, USA : Catherine Pelachaud, Universita di Roma "La Sapienza," Italy : Jeff Rickel, USC Information Sciences Institute, USA : Daniel Thalmann, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland

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