Chapter 10: A VR-Based Virtual Agent System

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Timothy K. Shih
Tamkang University, ROC

Ying-Hong Wang
Tamkang University, ROC

Yung-Hui Chen
Tamkang University, ROC

Abstract

Agent technology can be used to represent individuals participating in a virtual university. Avatars are virtual actors on behalf of students and instructors navigating in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual campus. This chapter presents a system based on virtual reality (VR) technology as well as agent technology that enables online discussions via different real-time communication channels. The system has a generic interface, which includes five scenes of a virtual university, as well as a set of plug-and- play communication agent tools. Each user is maintained by an intelligent agent that controls the navigation behavior based on a rule-based computation. Behaviors of each student are restricted and guided by intelligent agents. The system can be extended for the construction of any virtual university with 3D campus and online communication facilities.

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