Developing and evaluating an AI engine for branching narratives in serious medicalgames

People often find it difficult to motivate themselves to perform activities that are beneficial, such as exercising,
adhering to a diet, or educating themselves about their health. In contrast, digital games motivate players for hours
at a time. As such, there is increasing interest in serious games that motivate behaviour and retain attention in
serious contexts. Game-based narratives have been effective at educating and persuading players in serious games
for health; however, they are time-consuming to create as each game scenario must be scripted manually.
Furthermore, game narratives tend to unfold in a linear fashion regardless of player input, which reduces their
potential efficacy as they do not respond to the player, their state, or in-game decisions.
In this project, we will explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to create branching narratives in
serious game design. We will create an AI engine that responds to player and system inputs and evaluate the
persuasiveness, engagement, and efficacy of the procedurally-generated narratives in the context of serious games
for health.

Faculty Supervisor:

Regan Mandryk

Student:

Partner:

MindLab Interactive AI Inc

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program: