Ben Goertzel writes:
> it might be valuable to have an integration of Player/Stage/Gazebo with 
> OpenSim
 
I think this type of project is a good start toward addressing one of the major 
critiques of the virtual world approach -- the temptation to (unintentionally) 
"cheat" -- those canned animations can fool the untrained observer into 
thinking there is a lot more going on than they would think from the actual agi 
output (MOVE AVATAR 3M FORWARD, e.g.).  Similarly for input... if input is 
obtained from simulated senses instead of providing direct access to the object 
model of the simulator, the resulting internal representations in the AI are 
much more convincing somehow.
 
I don't know much about OpenSim or Player/Stage/Gazebo but it would seem that 
they overlap quite a bit, in that they both include simulation as their core 
function.  I guess what you really want to do is figure out a middle layer 
between the standard player interface and the specific virtual world of 
interest (OpenSim).  My guess would be that you could re-use a bunch of code as 
part of that task but it will still be rather complex.  It would be an 
interesting GSoC project I'd think.
 
It doesn't address the other major criticisms of virtual worlds -- such as the 
fact that in current ones the objects are more "iconic" than realistic... by 
which I mean that the appearance and limited behavior of a "mug of beer" is 
purely for the purpose of being identifiable by humans with a lot of experience 
of real mugs of beer.  Its role in the virtual world is suggestive rather than 
functional and in a lot of cases I have no idea how an AI could make any useful 
sense out of it.
 
I imagine that criticism will be dealt with over a lot of time as the worlds 
become more realistic, though the computing requirements for something 
approaching the richness of real-world sensation seem daunting, as does the 
sheer volume of object data needed to realistically model something as simple 
as a baby's bedroom.
 

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agi
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