Integration of Multi-modal Cues in Synthetic Attention Processes to Drive Virtual Agent Behavior

Simulations and serious games require realistic behavior of multiple intelligent agents in real-time. One particular issue is how attention and multi-modal sensory memory can be modeled in a natural but effective way, such that agents controllably react to salient objects or are distracted by other multi-modal cues from their current intention. We propose a conceptual framework that provides a solution with adherence to three main design goals: natural behavior, real-time performance, and controllability. As a proof of concept, we implement three major components and showcase effectiveness in a real-time game engine scenario. Within the exemplified scenario, a visual sensor is combined with static saliency probes and auditory cues. The attention model weighs bottom-up attention against intention-related top-down processing, controllable by a designer using memory and attention inhibitor parameters. We demonstrate our case and discuss future extensions.