Computational Creativity: Improv Agents and Conceptual Blending

Conceptual blending (CB) is a basic mental operation that plays a fundamental role in the construction of meaning in our everyday life. The core of CB is the partial matching of two input mental spaces and the selective projection from those inputs into a novel ‘blended’ mental space, which then dynamically develops an emergent structure. Improvisational acting is one specialized domain in which conceptual blending is heavily used; improvisers are required to co-create stories on the stage in real time based on how they continuously perceive their environment. The Digital Improv Project has been engaged in a multi-year study of the cognitive processes involved in improvisational acting and has led to a better understanding of human cognition and creativity. In this article, the authors provide a computational model for the conceptual blending of cognitive scripts that can help digital improv agents to select the two input spaces required in the blending process. The blend is an emergent structure that provides new interesting events that the digital improv agents can adopt in their acting. Computational Creativity: Improv Agents and Conceptual Blending