Enhancing believability of virtual soccer players: Application of a BDI-model with emotions and trust

Abstract

Despite significant progress in the development of virtual soccer games, the affective behavior of virtual soccer players, both in software and hardware applications, is still limited. To improve this situation, this paper presents a generic model for decision making of virtual agents in relation to emotions and trust. The model takes the BDI framework as point of departure, and extends this with mechanisms to represent the dynamics of emotions and trust. After testing the model by means of simulation experiments, it has been incorporated into the virtual agents within the RoboCup 2D soccer environment. A preliminary evaluation pointed out that the model successfully enhances believability of virtual soccer players.