Believable Agents and Intelligent Scenario Direction for Social and Cultural Leadership Training

Simulation provides an opportunity for a trainee to practice skills in an interactive and reactive virtual environment. We present a technique for social and cultural leader training through simulation based on a combination of interactive synthetic agents and intelligent scenario direction and adaptation. Social simulation through synthetic characters provides an engaging and believable experience for the trainee. In addition, the trainee is exposed to a sequence of relevant learning situations where the trainee can practice problem-solving under particular conditions. An Automated Scenario Director provides high-level guidance to semi-autonomous character agents to coerce the trainee’s experience to conform to a given scenario. When the trainee performs actions in the virtual world that cause the simulation state to deviate from the scenario, the Automated Scenario Director adapts the scenario to resolve any unexpected inconsistencies, thereby preserving the trainee’s perception of self control while still retaining any relevant learning situations.