"It/I": A Theater Play Featuring an Autonomous Computer Character

"It / I" is a two-character theater play where the human character I (played by a real actor) is taunted and played with by an autonomous computer character It on a computer controlled, camera-monitored stage. The play was performed before live audiences in November of 1997 and, for the first time ever, brought an automatic computer character to a theatrical stage. This paper reports the experience and examines important technical developments needed for the successful production of "It / I". In particular we describe the interval script paradigm used to program the computer character and the ACTSCRIPT language for communication of actions and goals. Although our experiments have been restricted to physical interactive spaces, we believe that interval scripts and ACTSCRIPT can successfully address the control and management of any virtual environment with a complex temporal structure or a strong underlying narrative.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2002
• Where: PRESENCE
• Authors: Claudio S. Pinhanez, Aaron F. Bobick
• Keywords: Important Technical Developments, Interval Scripts, PRESENCE 2002, Two-character Theater Play