Emergent and Guided Narrative for Training and Education in Virtual Worlds Mark Riedl Research Scientist Institute for Creative Technologies University of Southern California riedl@ict.usc.edu

Storytelling Storytelling is a pervasive part of our world and our culture Stories in entertainment: Movies; Novels; Games Stories for training and education: Motivation; Illustration; Case studies Can story be applied to interactive learning system? 7/13/2019

Story in Interactive Training? Interactive case study Evaluate and analyze  direct experience Interactivity means trainee can do things differently from original story How to ensure relevance of experience plus trainee agency? Hypothesis: We can use story to manage the interactive experience of the trainee Not using story to teach Story establishes relevant learning situations Separation of scenario from instruction 7/13/2019

Introduction to Narrative What is narrative? Recounting of a sequence of events Continuant subject What is story? Narrative plus something else Point Structured plot Dramatic arc Focus on plot level for interactive systems tension time Exposition Rising action Crisis Falling action Dénouement Climax Inciting incident 7/13/2019

Emergent Narrative Narrative Psychology Emergent narrative “systems”: Bruner: “Construction of reality” Gerrig, Green: Transportation theory and the active audience Emergent narrative “systems”: Everyday life Simulation Sims, MMORPGs, Second Life However… Story doesn’t always emerge Life and simulations don’t always invoke narrative thought 7/13/2019

Guided Narrative Analogous to story telling Constraint of emergence Audience perspective: emerging story Teller perspective: carefully pre-meditated sequence of events designed to invoke narrative thought Guided narrative “systems”: Movies, novels, plays Most video games However… Guidance precludes interactivity (?) 7/13/2019

Narrative and Pedagogy Emergent narrative  constructivist learning Guided narrative  guided teaching Distinction between discovery learning and discovery teaching Clark, Mayer: Discovery learning is not always appropriate Potential benefits: Engagement and motivation Situated learning through dramatic role-playing Memory and “well-structured” narrative Durative belief change Transfer of tacit knowledge 7/13/2019

From Narrative to “Interactive Narrative” Sternberg: Expertise from experience and reflection Leadership; Teamwork; Decision-making; Situation awareness; Social awareness; Cultural awareness Narrative as a way of transferring knowledge from experts to novices Narrative paradox Narrative has pedagogical value Trainee agency Solution: Intelligent experience guidance From emergent narrative to guided narrative Balance between emergence and guidance 7/13/2019

Intelligent Experience Guidance Interactive Storytelling Computer tells a story User is interactive participant User actions incorporated into narrative and can change the direction and/or outcome of the story Emergence vs. Guidance Common approach: Branching 7/13/2019

Interactive Narrative for Training Hypothesis: Expertise through narrative-mediated experience Leadership; Teamwork; Decision-making; Situation awareness; Social awareness; Cultural awareness Relevant learning situations Goal: A system that uses story to control a trainee’s experiences in a training simulation Emergence and guidance Requirements: Constructive simulation  emergence Relevant learning situations  guidance 7/13/2019

IN-TALE Proof-of-Concept Interactive Narrative – Tacit Adaptive Leader Experience Narrative-based training simulation Trainee is role-player Simulation populated by virtual humans Story describes expected sequence of relevant learning situations Story adapted dynamically to trainee’s actions Branching generated dynamically Overcome authoring limitations Potentially higher degree of branching 7/13/2019

Relevant learning situations Example Story Back story The marketplace The characters: Saleh, Hassan The scenario Hassan (Shi’a) sets himself up in favorable light Saleh (Sunni) is demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks off to a nearby Mosque and acquires a bomb from an insurgent conspirator Hassan secretly plants the bomb in Saleh’s area Bomb goes off but is a dud – no one gets hurt Player manages ensuing chaos and attempts to assess blame … Mixed-simulation control Simulation – virtual world with autonomous, reactive agents Story – expected trainee experience Manage the tension between simulation and story Relevant learning situations 7/13/2019

Automated Story Director Automated Story Director/Generator Automated Director is bridge between simulation and story Directs character agents Monitors progress of trainee through story Dynamically adapts story to keep trainee progressing towards relevant situations Trainee may inadvertently avoid the relevant situations Trainee may make it impossible to progress towards the relevant situations Maintains user perception of self-agency Directives Directives Agent1 Agent2 Updates 7/13/2019

Automated Story Generator Story represented as a partially-ordered plan Complete story specification Causal analysis Plan repair Initial State not (detained Has.) Player causes: (detained Has.) 1: Acquire (Has., bomb1) (has Has. bomb1) not (detained Has.) 2: Plant-Bomb (Has., bomb1) Player causes: NOT (armed bomb1) (armed bomb1) (planted bomb1) 3: Dud (bomb1) (chaos market) Outcome 7/13/2019

5: Agitate (Con, crowd, Has.) 1: Acquire (Has., bomb1) Intermediate State 2: Plant (Has., bomb1) 3: Dud (bomb1) Outcome (detained Has.) (has Has. bomb1) (armed bomb1) (planted bomb1) (detained Has.) 4: Release (Has.) (criminal Has.) Initial State (detained Has.) (detained Has.) (armed bomb1) (detained Has.) (armed bomb1) (criminal Has.) (detained Has.) 1: Acquire (Has., bomb1) (has Has. bomb1) 2: Plant (Has., bomb1) (armed bomb1) (planted bomb1) 3: Dud (bomb1) Outcome Intermediate State 4: Plant (Con., bomb2) 5: Dud (bomb2) Outcome (detained Con.) (armed bomb2) (planted bomb2) 5: Agitate (Con, crowd, Has.) 6: Riot-Protest (crowd, Has.) Outcome (detained Con.) (agitated crowd) Intermediate State (detained Has.) (detained Con.) (armed bomb2) (detained Con.) (agitated crowd) 7/13/2019

Automated Story Direction Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Hassan Saleh Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Hassan secretly plants bomb in Saleh’s area Bomb goes off as a dud Hassan al-Sagheer 7/13/2019

Automated Story Direction Mohammed sets himself up in favorable light Hassan Saleh Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Hassan secretly plants bomb in Saleh’s area Bomb goes off as a dud 7/13/2019

Automated Story Direction Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Hassan Saleh Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Hassan secretly plants bomb in Saleh’s area Bomb goes off as a dud 7/13/2019

Automated Story Adaptation Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Hassan Saleh Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Trainee catches Hassan with bomb Hassan is taken to detention Hassan’s insurgent conspirator plants a bomb Bomb goes off as a dud Hassan secretly plants bomb in Saleh’s area Bomb goes off as a dud 7/13/2019

Automated Story Adaptation Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Hassan Saleh Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Trainee catches Hassan with bomb Hassan is taken to detention Hassan’s insurgent conspirator plants a bomb Bomb goes off as a dud 7/13/2019

Automated Story Adaptation Hassan sets himself up in favorable light Hassan Saleh Saleh demonstrates anti-American sentiment Hassan sneaks to Mosque to acquire bomb from insurgent conspirator Trainee catches Hassan with bomb Hassan is taken to detention Hassan’s insurgent conspirator plants a bomb Bomb goes off as a dud 7/13/2019

Instruction and Interactive Narrative Role of Automated Story Director in education: Coerce the trainee into situations where learning can and should occur Does not guarantee that trainee will learn Interactive storytelling should be part of a larger program Scenario and instruction are separate but complimentary Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) Models and monitors student Remediates when it detects buggy reasoning/knowledge Keeping scenario and instruction separate is useful: When lead-up to a relevant learning situation is just as important to experience as the relevant learning situations itself, and When stringing multiple relevant learning situations together. 7/13/2019

Intelligent Tutoring in Simulations Inter-session “Tutoring”: setting parameters Pre-practice Tutoring: preparation & prevention Post-practice Tutoring: reflection & improvement STORY ENGINE Pre-practice, preventive phase. establish background and prep student Real-time during problem solving sessions in simulation focus of this talk After-action/Reflective phase to review, identify good/bad, learn how to improve Intersession tutor: (no student interactions) analyze all performance, set stage for next game such that specific learning goals are addressed On-line Tutoring: support during practice 7/13/2019

Intelligent Tutoring in Interactive Narrative On-line tutoring Diegetic or extra-diegetic tutor presence Request story adaptations – add practice Post-practice tutoring Explanation of unobserved events and 2nd and 3rd order effects Explainable AI Inter-session tutoring Request Story Director generate new scenarios Tutor and Story Director: Separate but equal 7/13/2019

Conclusions AI technologies for interactive storytelling systems: Automated narrative direction of virtual humans Automated story generation Expertise through experience Storytelling and interactivity Narrative and pedagogy Narrative thought and constructivist learning  sense-making Pedagogy and guided narrative focuses sense-making Future work… 7/13/2019

And they all lived happily ever after… The end.