Conference presentation: ShaMAN - an Agent Meta-model for Computer Games (with notes)

26 Sep 200826 Sep 2008 HCSE-2008, Pisa (EIS-2008)HCSE-2008, Pisa (EIS-2008) ##11 
ShaMAN: an Agent Meta-
model for Computer Games
Steve Goschnick1
, Sandrine Balbo2
& Liz Sonenberg3
Interaction Design Group1,2,3
, & Agent Lab1,3
Department of Information Systems
University of Melbourne
stevenbg@unimelb.edu.au

AO and HCSE – a fit?
 Implicitly, some AO architectures, frameworks and
methodologies suggest good compatibility, e.g.
 BDI – via Folk Psychology
 ShadowBoard – via Analytical Psychology

A Gap in Agent
Architectures:
 The Human Computer Interface is important
in AO systems, as it was in OO.
 Data Modellers know something in general
about models and meta-models.
 This work is aimed at enhancing AO
concepts, architectures and technology wrt
application to computer games in
particularly.

Most AO architectures…

Comparison of concepts (AO)

Meta-model differences

The ShaMAN Meta-Model

MAS for Computer Games & Rich UI Apps

The Locale sub-section of meta-
model

Games and Rich User Interfaces

particularly, however:
 Much of it generalises to:
 AO applications with a graphic or rich media
user interface.
 Human-in-the-loop AO systems, that use a
computer screen within the human-agent
interaction interface.

1
ShaMAN: an Agent Meta-
model for Computer Games
Steve Goschnick1
, Sandrine Balbo2
& Liz Sonenberg3
Interaction Design Group1,2,3
, & Agent Lab1,3
Department of Information Systems
University of Melbourne
stevenbg@unimelb.edu.au

2 6 Sep 2 0 0 82 6 Sep 2 0 0 8 HCSE-2 0 0 8 , Pisa (EIS-2 0 0 8 )HCSE-2 0 0 8 , Pisa (EIS-2 0 0 8 ) ##22 
 Implicitly, some AO architectures, frameworks and
methodologies suggest good compatibility, e.g.
 BDI – via Folk Psychology
 ShadowBoard – via Analytical Psychology
Does the Agent-Oriented (AO) paradigm of software development fit a
Human Centred Software Engineering approach?
Yes it does as several AO architectures are directly based on human
psychology models, including:
* BDI (Beliefs, Desires and Intentions) based on Folk Psychology.
* Shadowboard based on Analytical Psychology (Jungian and Psychology of
Sub-Selves).
In the process of building more intelligent software systems researchers
have moved abstraction beyond just abstracting objects and procedures, to
the abstraction of mentalistic notions draw from Psychology.
In doing so they have created models that are tailor-made for human-centred
software engineering.

3
A Gap in Agent
Architectures:
 The Human Computer Interface is important
in AO systems, as it was in OO.
 Data Modellers know something in general
about models and meta-models.
particularly.
Intended emphasis:
1. That computer screens remain an integral part of the human-agent
interface, for the sorts of applications that the AO paradigm can and
could be used for, for some long time to come.
2. While AO researchers are doing more in the meta-model area than ever
before, other paradigms have experience and expertise in meta-models
and the quality of models. While AO researchers are well aware of the
OO modelling notations – e.g. they use UML class diagram, in the main
– ER modelling from the Information Engineering/Analysis field, is less
well known, but holds some useful insights.
3. While computer games are some distance away from most enterprise
applications, the SHAMAN meta-model presented here, has some
generic features applicable to other areas of AO application.

Most AO architectures…
Prior to the ShaMAN, meta-model most Agent-Oriented meta-model,
architectures or frameworks, only include some subset of these entities.

Meta-model differences
The color/shaded areas of the table show the extra entities and concepts
included in the ShaMAN model, over-and-above the other models examined
here.
Note: Apart from being useful in computer games, these extra entities in the
ShaMAN model, are slowly being backstitched into various social
networking platforms, in their bottom-up iterative approach to system
design.

7
Intended emphasis:
1. While the model does have a lot of entities, it has 8 which have/are
hierarchies – Goal, Role, Agent, SocialWorld, Task, Resource, Locale
and Ontology – about which the model can be examined and better
comprehended in sub-models – as follows in coming slides.
2. The model is quite readable in terse natural language statements – Noun-
verb-noun: Role comes with Responsibility; Goal is a part of
Responsibility; Locale is populated by Inhabitants; etc. in the ER and
UML class-model traditions
Possible Questions:
Qs.1: The meta-model looks awfully complex: how are we ever going to get
enterprise analysts (any domain application analysts/developers, for that
matter) to take on-board AO concepts?
An Ans: Yes, the SHAMAN meta-model has 29 entities, but hey, who says
AO was meant to be simple. The sorts of applications that AO could/is
being used for, includes some of the most complex applications on the
planet – which probably includes some of the computer games out there.
An Ans: Don’t confuse a system architecture, with a computer language.
While a UML model for the whole Java OO platform (say), would entail
a very large UML model, the language could be modelled with a single
entity called Object, with a self-referencing one-to-many (single
inheritance) relationship: powerful programming model, but one with

8
MAS for Computer Games & Rich UI Apps
Intended emphasis:
1. That, in common with the Web interface, game interfaces are generally
non-uniform in the way that one interacts and navigates about them (E.g.
There are few popular games that adhere to Windows UI Guidelines,
say). The last thing a game developer (and a web-site designer) wants, is
for their creation to look like or be very similar to everybody elses. So
standard interface components and specific guidelines, are not well
regarded. Guidelines for the usability of these sorts of applications, are
all about what ‘not to do’ – leaving everything else possible.
2. A minimal UI concept that might be / should be, taken into an agent
meta-model that intends to use screens in the human-agent interaction
process (as SHAMAN does), is ‘area’ (e.g. a polygon). It affords an
interaction with a human via a pointing device of one sort or another.
3. Things about the ‘Locale’ – such as this bedroom – may represent
‘Resources’ represented elsewhere in the system – e.g. The clock-radio
on the bedside table; and the keyboard at the foot of the bed.

9
Intended emphasis:
1. While the model does have a lot of entities, it has 8 which have/are
hierarchies – Goal, Role, Agent, SocialWorld, Task, Resource, Locale
and Ontology – about which the model can be examined and better
comprehended in sub-models – as follows in coming slides.
2. The model is quite readable in terse natural language statements – Noun-
verb-noun: Role comes with Responsibility; Goal is a part of
Responsibility; Locale is populated by Inhabitants; etc. in the ER and
UML class-model traditions
Possible Questions:
Qs.1: The meta-model looks awfully complex: how are we ever going to get
enterprise analysts (any domain application analysts/developers, for that
matter) to take on-board AO concepts?
An Ans: Yes, the SHAMAN meta-model has 29 entities, but hey, who says
AO was meant to be simple. The sorts of applications that AO could/is
being used for, includes some of the most complex applications on the
planet – which probably includes some of the computer games out there.
An Ans: Don’t confuse a system architecture, with a computer language.
While a UML model for the whole Java OO platform (say), would entail
a very large UML model, the language could be modelled with a single
entity called Object, with a self-referencing one-to-many (single
inheritance) relationship: powerful programming model, but one with

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