Non - Player Characters and Artificial Intelligence

Serious Games rely on interactive systems to provide an efficient communication medium between the tutor and the user. Designing and implementing such medium is a multi-disciplinary task that aims at an environment that engages the user in a learning activity. User engagement is significantly related to the users’ sense of immersion or his willingness to accept the reality proposed by a game environment. This is a very relevant research topic for Artificial Intelligence (AI), since it requires computational systems to generate believable behaviors that can promote the users’ willingness to enter and engage in the game environment. In order to do this, AI research has been relying on social sciences, in particular psychology and sociology models, to ground the creation of computational models for non-player characters that behave according to the users’ expectations. In this chapter, the authors present some of the most relevant NPC research contributions following this approach. Gonçalo Pereira INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal António Brisson INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal João Dias INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal André Carvalho INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal Joana Dimas INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal Samuel Mascarenhas INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal Joana Campos INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal Marco Vala INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal Iolanda Leite INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal Carlos Martinho INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal Rui Prada INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal Ana Paiva INESC-ID, Portugal & University of Lisbon, Portugal