Jazzbot: A non-monotonically reasoning bot in a simulated 3D environment

In our previous research we designed Jazzyk, a modular programming language for development of cognitive agent systems. Jazzyk obeys two basic design principles: 1) it allows for an easy integration of heterogeneous knowledge representation technologies, and 2) draws a strict distinction between modeling agent’s knowledge and reasoning vs. its behaviours. To further drive the development of Jazzyk, we implemented Jazzbot, a softbot embodied in a simulated 3D environment of a computer game Nexuiz. The core of Jazzbot ’s belief base is implemented as a logic program interpreted in the semantics of Answer Set Programming, thus exploiting the power of non-monotonic reasoning. It is complemented by a Ruby language module for representing the bot’s topological knowledge about the environment. Jazzbot thus demonstrates the synergistic effect of using heterogeneous, in this case declarative and object-oriented, KR technologies in a single agent system.