Interactive Frank An interactive audio montage

Joe Frank “Critically acclaimed broadcaster and performance artist …” “Critically acclaimed broadcaster and performance artist …” “a master of the dark, humorous and absurd” “a master of the dark, humorous and absurd” Shows aired on WFMU and NPR Shows aired on WFMU and NPR Series of fictitious narrative monologues, dramas, "real life" phone conversations, and often all of the above Series of fictitious narrative monologues, dramas, "real life" phone conversations, and often all of the above My inspiration for author model My inspiration for author modelauthor modelauthor model

Charles Marks Old grumpy artist Old grumpy artist Ex-girlfriend’s grandfather Ex-girlfriend’s grandfather Loved to talk about his past Loved to talk about his past Could spout off loosely related anecdotes for hours on end, with minimal input Could spout off loosely related anecdotes for hours on end, with minimal input Perfect model for interactivizing Joe Frank Perfect model for interactivizing Joe Frank

Make it Interactive? What if the user could guide an Joe Frank-esque audio montage in the same way that I could “guide” my conversations with Mr. Marks?

Jobs Author – take input from the user and try to make sense of it Author – take input from the user and try to make sense of it Actors – communicate with the author and try to say something relevant to the input Actors – communicate with the author and try to say something relevant to the input Lenny –Wikipedia Lenny –Wikipedia Oswald - LiveJournal Oswald - LiveJournal DJ (and daemon) – communicate with author and try to play a song from your hard drive that matches the overall theme of the input DJ (and daemon) – communicate with author and try to play a song from your hard drive that matches the overall theme of the input

Technical Details Google API Google API FreeTTS (text-to-speech) FreeTTS (text-to-speech) Not so good, but you can set pitch, WPM, style, and its free Not so good, but you can set pitch, WPM, style, and its free MP3s on your hard drive MP3s on your hard drive ID3 Tags (blinkenlights) w/help from allmusic.com ID3 Tags (blinkenlights) w/help from allmusic.com dict.org (especially Moby Thesaurus) dict.org (especially Moby Thesaurus) Wikipedia Wikipedia LiveJournal RSS LiveJournal RSS

The Interface Accepts input from user Accepts input from user Currently works only with single adjectives Currently works only with single adjectives Eventually, I would like it to accept sentences, and do some sort of simple analysis of what words are “important” Eventually, I would like it to accept sentences, and do some sort of simple analysis of what words are “important” eg: surreal, uplifting, horrible, sublime, etc. eg: surreal, uplifting, horrible, sublime, etc.

Meanwhile… When you start up the program, the DJ begins searching your hard drive. When you start up the program, the DJ begins searching your hard drive. When it encounters an MP3, it checks the ID3 tags When it encounters an MP3, it checks the ID3 tags DJ keeps track of Artists with lists of “moods”, and songs by that artist DJ keeps track of Artists with lists of “moods”, and songs by that artist Moods are expanded using thesaurus Moods are expanded using thesaurus

Themes When you enter a word, a “theme” is constructed. When you enter a word, a “theme” is constructed. The Theme consults dict.org and retrieves synonyms The Theme consults dict.org and retrieves synonyms When there is more than one valid theme, the Author goes to work When there is more than one valid theme, the Author goes to work The themes are the primary narrative guide The themes are the primary narrative guide

The Author The Author analyzes the Themes created by the user The Author analyzes the Themes created by the user Whenever there is an intersection between two themes, we have encountered something important (a focus) Whenever there is an intersection between two themes, we have encountered something important (a focus) These foci are what is handed to the DJ and the Actors as “inspiration” These foci are what is handed to the DJ and the Actors as “inspiration”

The Actors When the themes have been analyzed, the results are fed to the Actors When the themes have been analyzed, the results are fed to the Actors The Actors then take turns reading a line The Actors then take turns reading a line The have different sources and different ways of gathering material The have different sources and different ways of gathering material

Lenny Lenny here loves to drop science Lenny here loves to drop science His body of knowledge comes from the WikiPedia His body of knowledge comes from the WikiPedia He finds an article that has something to do with the foci and reads a sentence from it He finds an article that has something to do with the foci and reads a sentence from it

Oswald Oswald is into drama Oswald is into drama He reads from LiveJournal He reads from LiveJournal

Modularity Authors can be added Authors can be added I had to get rid of Fitz (my original character) –he couldn’t get his act together I had to get rid of Fitz (my original character) –he couldn’t get his act together Eventually, the authors will have values that will determine when they will say a line. Eventually, the authors will have values that will determine when they will say a line.

The DJ The DJ is also taking cues from the Author The DJ is also taking cues from the Author He is going through his list of Artists, comparing the “moods” against the foci that the Author has determined He is going through his list of Artists, comparing the “moods” against the foci that the Author has determined Once he has found the artist that best matches the themes, he begins to play a song. Once he has found the artist that best matches the themes, he begins to play a song. The process starts over when the song has ended The process starts over when the song has ended

Is it Narrative? No No The result is a disjointed series of sentences, not nearly as cohesive as I want it to be The result is a disjointed series of sentences, not nearly as cohesive as I want it to be What could make it narrative? What could make it narrative? Themes should be influenced by previous input Themes should be influenced by previous input Use n-grams Use n-grams GoogleAPI should allow more than 1000 queries a day GoogleAPI should allow more than 1000 queries a day

Then what’s the point? I thought that the DJ was remarkable effective. I thought that the DJ was remarkable effective. Each song he chose was very accurate Each song he chose was very accurate The dialogue was often very entertaining The dialogue was often very entertaining I could often fill in the blanks of the dialogue and come up with a cohesive narrative of my own I could often fill in the blanks of the dialogue and come up with a cohesive narrative of my own With more work, it could definitely get better With more work, it could definitely get better