ION Framework - A Simulation Environment for Worlds with Virtual Agents [PDF]

Abstract_ Agents cannot be decoupled from their environment. An agent perceives and acts in a world and the model of the world influences how the agent makes decisions. Most systems with virtual embodied agents simulate the environment within a specific realization engine such as the graphics engine. As a consequence, these agents are bound to a particular kind of environment which compromises their reusability across different applications. We propose the ION Framework, a framework for simulating virtual environments which separates the simulation environment from the realization engine. In doing so, it facilitates the integration and reuse of the several components of the system. The ION Framework was used to create several 3D virtual worlds populated with autonomous embodied agents that were tested with hundreds of users.
Year_ 2009
Keywords_ agent framework
Authors_ Marco Vala, Guilherme Raimundo, Pedro Sequeira, Pedro Cuba, Rui Prada, Carlos Martinho, Ana Paiva
Booktitle_ 9th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents - IVA2009
Volume_ 5773/2009
Pages_ 418–424
Series_ Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher_ Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
Address_ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Month_ September

Bibtex_
@inproceedings { vala09, abstract = {Agents cannot be decoupled from their environment. An agent perceives and acts in a world and the model of the world influences how the agent makes decisions. Most systems with virtual embodied agents simulate the environment within a specific realization engine such as the graphics engine. As a consequence, these agents are bound to a particular kind of environment which compromises their reusability across different applications. We propose the ION Framework, a framework for simulating virtual environments which separates the simulation environment from the realization engine. In doing so, it facilitates the integration and reuse of the several components of the system. The ION Framework was used to create several 3D virtual worlds populated with autonomous embodied agents that were tested with hundreds of users. }, address = {Amsterdam, The Netherlands}, booktitle = {9th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents - IVA2009}, keywords = {agent framework}, month = {September}, pages = {418–424}, publisher = {Springer Berlin / Heidelberg}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, title = {ION Framework - A Simulation Environment for Worlds with Virtual Agents}, volume = {5773/2009}, year = {2009}, author = {Marco Vala and Guilherme Raimundo and Pedro Sequeira and Pedro Cuba and Rui Prada and Carlos Martinho and Ana Paiva} }