If I were you - Double appraisal in affective agents (Short Paper)

We report the implementation and evaluation of a Simulation Theory (ST) approach to the Theory of Mind in intelligent graphical agents driven by an affective agent architecture FatiMA. The existing cognitive appraisal mechanism is adapted to produce a second appraisal cycle, a double appraisal, in order to evaluate the emotional impact of possible actions. The action with the greatest emotional impact is selected as a means of producing more interesting dramatic actions. A variant in which the actual minds of characters present are used is also implemented and evaluated. Results show that these mechanisms do produce more interesting stories.