Passion for virtual tale gets team noticed

Jul 31 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

Computer gaming is taking a leap into literature by inviting players into the virtual world of 19th Century adulterous heroine Madame Bovary. But the new development is more than a diversion, it has applications for business, as Karen Dent reports

MID-19th Century literature may not be the subject matter that immediately springs to mind as a theme for a new computer game.

But a team from the University of Teesside has plunged into the world of Emma Bovary, her husband and her lovers to create a virtual reality game where players can change the plot of Gustave Flaubert’s book Madame Bovary and choose their own outcomes.It has been more than a labour of love for the university’s Intelligent Virtual Environment Group, led by Prof Marc Cavazza, Dr Fred Charles and Jean Luc Lugrin – who are all French, like the work of fiction they chose to test their concept.“We’re still at the experimental stage, but we’ve created a small-scale, yet complete integration of a real-time immersive interactive storytelling system which puts us among the leaders in this field,” says Prof Cavazza.“This work has been well received in the scientific community and presented at major international conferences, such as ACM Multimedia. “We believe it could be the next big thing in interactive TV and digital entertainment. We are currently collaborating on interactive storytelling with both Eidos Interactive and the BBC as part of two externally-funded research projects.” The game was developed by using artificial intelligence and interactive storytelling in a virtual reality setting. Players enter the Cave – a three-walled virtual reality environment where the game is played. The 3mx3m stage can fit up to five people inside at once. Players – who take the part of Emma’s husband or her lovers – are equipped with stereoscopic goggles so the other characters, which are projected on to the walls and floor, can be seen in three dimensions.Dr Charles, principal lecturer in visualisation at the university’s School of Computing, said: “The concept of Cave was designed in the early 90s. The idea is that this space is like a stage with three walls and the users inside can see the virtual world in three dimensions.”In Madame Bovary, a piece of software works as an interactive storytelling engine to set up a sequence of events. The clever piece of kit uses the latest artificial intelligence developments, which allows it to plan ahead and consider the consequences of the actions it generates. “It took 12 months to get the design and structure fully installed and it took a couple of years to develop the software efficiently,” said Dr Charles.Excerpts of dialogue from Flaubert’s novel have been programmed into the system, so the player – as long as they keep to short sentences typical of the original book – can talk directly to the characters in the game. The system is so sharp it also recognises movement, so if a player turns their back on a character, the game knows they are ignoring or rejecting what has been said.Although US military researchers have used basic emotions in war games simulators and some games allow characters to chat by sitting in front of their keyboard and typing in their responses, this is the first time so many elements have been brought together in one game.The team behind Madame Bovary is now experimenting with the system’s capabilities and its applications beyond providing a bridge between the literary and gaming communities. “Perhaps the biggest breakthrough of the concept is the virtual characters’ ability to interact with humans. “It will be able to able to push the limits of virtual humans, to act having differing types of interaction with humans and virtual humans,” said Dr Charles.He also believes the concept could be used to create virtual holidays, allowing people to enjoy the full experience of a virtual environment. Dr Charles said: “We can create specific types of virtual environment. The installation was the major thing to get it set up.”Training and work in industry are other applications the concept can be used for.“It is very broad; we can cater for the older type of virtual reality, which may be training – in all sorts of things – such as where you need to replay something time after time,” said Dr Charles.“There are a lot of the bigger companies where they have such installations in their own premises.”He believes the virtual reality part of the system will be particularly useful for the automotive industry, where different parts of the design process are often in different locations. “They can share different design ideas across their networks or the internet and link them across the world.”Madame Bovary and choose their own outcomes.

It has been more than a labour of love for the university’s Intelligent Virtual Environment Group, led by Prof Marc Cavazza, Dr Fred Charles and Jean Luc Lugrin – who are all French, like the work of fiction they chose to test their concept.

“We’re still at the experimental stage, but we’ve created a small-scale, yet complete integration of a real-time immersive interactive storytelling system which puts us among the leaders in this field,” says Prof Cavazza.

“This work has been well received in the scientific community and presented at major international conferences, such as ACM Multimedia.

“We believe it could be the next big thing in interactive TV and digital entertainment. We are currently collaborating on interactive storytelling with both Eidos Interactive and the BBC as part of two externally-funded research projects.” The game was developed by using artificial intelligence and interactive storytelling in a virtual reality setting. Players enter the Cave – a three-walled virtual reality environment where the game is played. The 3mx3m stage can fit up to five people inside at once.

Players – who take the part of Emma’s husband or her lovers – are equipped with stereoscopic goggles so the other characters, which are projected on to the walls and floor, can be seen in three dimensions.

Dr Charles, principal lecturer in visualisation at the university’s School of Computing, said: “The concept of Cave was designed in the early 90s. The idea is that this space is like a stage with three walls and the users inside can see the virtual world in three dimensions.”

In Madame Bovary, a piece of software works as an interactive storytelling engine to set up a sequence of events. The clever piece of kit uses the latest artificial intelligence developments, which allows it to plan ahead and consider the consequences of the actions it generates.

“It took 12 months to get the design and structure fully installed and it took a couple of years to develop the software efficiently,” said Dr Charles.

Excerpts of dialogue from Flaubert’s novel have been programmed into the system, so the player – as long as they keep to short sentences typical of the original book – can talk directly to the characters in the game. The system is so sharp it also recognises movement, so if a player turns their back on a character, the game knows they are ignoring or rejecting what has been said.

Although US military researchers have used basic emotions in war games simulators and some games allow characters to chat by sitting in front of their keyboard and typing in their responses, this is the first time so many elements have been brought together in one game.

The team behind Madame Bovary is now experimenting with the system’s capabilities and its applications beyond providing a bridge between the literary and gaming communities.

“Perhaps the biggest breakthrough of the concept is the virtual characters’ ability to interact with humans.

“It will be able to able to push the limits of virtual humans, to act having differing types of interaction with humans and virtual humans,” said Dr Charles.

He also believes the concept could be used to create virtual holidays, allowing people to enjoy the full experience of a virtual environment. Dr Charles said: “We can create specific types of virtual environment. The installation was the major thing to get it set up.”

Training and work in industry are other applications the concept can be used for.

“It is very broad; we can cater for the older type of virtual reality, which may be training – in all sorts of things – such as where you need to replay something time after time,” said Dr Charles.

“There are a lot of the bigger companies where they have such installations in their own premises.”

He believes the virtual reality part of the system will be particularly useful for the automotive industry, where different parts of the design process are often in different locations.

“They can share different design ideas across their networks or the internet and link them across the world.”

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough is the virtual characters’ ability to interact with humans.