There is obvious potential for marrying agent technology with that of
the cinema, computer games, and virtual reality. The Oz
project
was initiated to develop:
`... artistically interesting, highly interactive, simulated worlds ... to give users the experience of living in (not merely watching) dramatically rich worlds that include moderately competent, emotional agents.' [Bates et al., 1992b]In order to construct such simulated worlds, one must first develop believable agents: agents that `provide the illusion of life, thus permitting the audience's suspension of disbelief' [Bates, 1994]. A key component of such agents is emotion: agents should not be represented in a computer game or animated film as the flat, featureless characters that appear in current computer games. They need to show emotions; to act and react in a way that resonates in tune with our empathy and understanding of human behaviour. The Oz group have investigated various architectures for emotion [Bates et al., 1992a], and have developed at least one prototype implementation of their ideas [Bates, 1994].