About The Workshop
The "Dungeons, Neurons, and Dialogues: Social Interaction Dynamics in Contextual Games" (DnD-SIDC) workshop aims to explore the forefront of Affective Computing by integrating advanced computational, psychological, and interaction solutions into context-based game interactions to simulate and analyze complex social interaction dynamics. This workshop reflects this year's theme for the Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII) 2024 conference, that is, Humans and Beyond, by advancing research in intelligent systems that can perceive, express, or utilize affect games using virtual and real robots. Contextual games like role-playing games (RPGs) offer rich, narrative-driven environments that are ideal for studying and modeling social constructs such as empathy, rivalry, trust, engagement, and competitiveness. These games require players to navigate complex emotional landscapes, make strategic decisions based on social cues, and engage in deep narrative experiences, all within a structured but highly flexible environment. By adding intelligent agents and robots into these scenarios, researchers can investigate how these systems can understand and replicate human social behaviors, adapt to emotional contexts, and contribute to shared experiences in meaningful ways. The intersection of Affective Computing and social interaction modeling is ripe for exploration. Advances in Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Robotics have provided the necessary tools to create sophisticated and emotionally-aware agents. Furthermore, the global increase in online gaming, especially during the recent pandemic, has highlighted the potential of digital platforms as laboratories for studying Human-Computer Interaction. The DnD-SIDC workshop will explore these aspects to initiate and encourage discussions on the boundaries of what's possible in the realm of social computing and games. ACII is always a host to a diverse group of researchers, practitioners, and industry professionals who are uniquely equipped to contribute to and benefit from the workshop's objectives. The interdisciplinary nature of ACII fosters collaboration across fields such as psychology, computer science, engineering, and game design, which are all crucial for the successful integration of affective computing principles into context-based games. The DnD-SIDC workshop hopes to put forth a timely and significant contribution to ACII 2024, towards advancing the state of the art in affective computing and intelligent interaction within the novel and engaging context of complex narrative-driven games.
Join the workshop Slack Channel to stay updated and connect with the rest of the community.
Call for Papers
We invite authors to submit their contributions either as regular (6-8 pages) or short papers (2-4 pages), following the ACII 2024 Submission Guidelines. All papers will be submitted via the EasyChair submission system and will be peer-reviewed in a double-blind fashion for their novelty, relevance, contribution to the field and technical soundness.
Similar to the main ACII conference, all submissions should be made following the IEEE Conference Template. Templates can be found here or on overleaf directly. Accepted papers will be included in the Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction Workshops and Demos (ACIIW) proceedings.
Call for Let's Play - Interactive Session
To bridge theoretical research with practical applications, we also invite live interactive sessions for participants to showcase their solutions and approaches to artificial agents engaging in context-rich games alongside human players. This session is aimed at promoting the sharing of innovative prototypes and ready-to-implement solutions with the workshop audience, allowing them to play different games with artificial agents. We invite researchers to submit 1-2 page extended abstracts for their live interaction session showcase, detailing the underlying technology and its relevance to the field. Additionally, participants will also submit a 1-minute video presentation showcasing the interactive demonstration. The selection of game solutions to be presented at the workshop will be based on innovation, technological prowess, and potential impact on the field. These abstracts will receive a light review that examines fit and factual correctness, but the authors will receive feedback from the audience during the workshop. These will not be included in the workshop proceedings but will be published on the workshop website.
All submissions to be made via EasyChair. (Select Workshop: Dungeons, Neurons, and Dialogues: Social Interaction Dynamics in Contextual Game Track)
Please contact pablo.barros [AT] sony.com for any queries regarding submission.
Topics
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Affect Recognition for AI-driven Agents in Games
- Narrative understanding and generation in game scenarios
- Affective Procedural Content Generation (PCG) for contextual games
- Enhancing player engagement through agents
- Building trust in human-agent relationships
- AI-driven adaptive game design
- Understanding cross-cultural differences in Human-Agent Interactions in Games
- Affective response generation in AI-driven agents
- Ethical considerations for designing AI-driven characters
- Research datasets, software, open-source tools, hardware analysis, system benchmarks in/for contextual games
Important Dates
- Paper Submission Deadline:
12 June, 2024 19 June, 2024 - Notification of Acceptance:
12 July, 2024 - Camera-ready Deadline:
25 July, 2024(All deadlines are at 23:59 Anywhere on Earth time) - Workshop Day: 15 September, 2024
Keynote Speakers
Prof Ozge Nilay Yalcin
Simon Fraser University, Canada
Dr Pietro Gravino
Sony Computer Science Lab, France
Dr Alessandra Sciutti
Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
Prof Georgios N. Yannakakis
modl.ai & University of Malta
Workshop Schedule
Opening and Introduction
Keynote 1: Prof Ozge Nilay Yalcin
Title: Crafting a Connection: Building Natural and Believable Interactions with Artificial Agents
Abstract: In a world where artificial agents such as chatbots, avatars, and virtual assistants are becoming an integral part of our daily lives, the challenge is no longer just about making them functional—it’s about making them believable, engaging, and empathic. In this talk, we will explore the critical elements that define natural and immersive interactions with AI agents, focusing on how to create seamless and effortless communication that feels genuinely authentic. We will dive into examples ranging from healthcare to education and gaming, where chatbots, avatars, and synthetic personas enhance user experiences by simulating empathy, adapting dialogue styles, and leveraging memory, context and emotions. Ultimately, we will have a comprehensive look at what it takes to craft human-centered AI interactions that are not just intelligent, but highly effective in fostering meaningful connections.
Keynote 2: Dr Pietro Gravino
Title: The Social Game: Trust, Reactions, and Interactions Dynamics
Abstract: Social media is currently the habitat of a substantial part of human interactions. While this new world is shaping many societal threats (polarisation, disinformation, toxicity), and underlying mechanisms (old and new) are still largely unknown, we now have unprecedented study opportunities. This talk will explore the concept of trust and its relation with disagreement in the context of news and information. The analysis of social reactions to the news will lead us to discuss the link between reactions and emotions on social media, the interaction pattern between communities created by 'moral values', and their link with toxicity. Finally, we will mention the role of technology as the keystone in this scenario.
Paper Trailers
Accepted Papers:
- The Scream Stream: Multimodal Affect Analysis of Horror Game Spaces
Authors: Emmanouil Xylakis, Antonios Liapis and Georgios N Yannakakis - Mullet’s Gambit: Explaining Learned Strategies in the Chef’s Hat Multiplayer Card Game
Laura Triglia, Pablo Barros, Francesco Rea and Alessandra Sciutti - Affectively Framework: Towards Human-like Affect-Based Agents
Matthew Barthet, Roberto Gallotta, Ahmed Khalifa, Antonios Liapis and Georgios N. Yannakakis - There's no Human in Charge: Playing Chef's Hat with a Large Language Model Based Agent
Alexandre Pereira, Bruno Fernandes and Pablo Barros - Exploring Self-Concept as a Motivational Factor in Tabletop Gaming through Identification Processes: Study Design and Theoretical Framework
Vittorio Guerrieri and Guyonne Rogier - Nova: A Dynamic Emotion-Based Narrator for Chef’s Hat Card Game
Nathália Cauás, Leandro Honorato and Bruno Fernandes
Coffee Break and Poster Session
Keynote 3: Dr Alessandra Sciutti
Title: Robots understanding humans, a child's play?
Abstract: One of the most significant challenges in establishing effective human-robot interaction lies in enabling machines to understand their human partners' states and anticipate their needs. To achieve this, it is essential to study and model how humans naturally react and behave during interactions. However, creating scenarios where humans and robots can collaborate organically in an ecological setting poses experimental challenges. Games provide an ideal context to foster immersion and engagement among players while maintaining an appropriate level of controllability and structure in the interaction. In this talk, I will present several examples of games that have proven effective for measuring and modeling naturalistic human-robot interaction.
Keynote 4: Prof Georgios N. Yannakakis
Title: Video Games: The Ultimate Launchpad for Affective Interaction
Abstract: Ever since the birth of the idea of artificial intelligence (AI), games have been helping AI research to advance. Video games not only pose interesting and complex problems for AI to solve, they also offer an important domain for affective computing. This rare domain where science meets art and interaction offers unique properties for the study of AI and is the key driver of technical progress and breakthroughs including deep learning and artificial general intelligence. It is not only AI and affective computing that advances through games, however; AI and emotion research has been helping games to advance across several fronts: in the way we play them, in the way we understand their inner functionalities, in the way we design them, and in the way we understand play, interaction and creativity. As games get increasingly richer and more complex through generative AI processes, affective interaction advances further and in turn, it advances the environments algorithms are trained in a continuous virtuous cycle.
Closing Remarks
Organisers
Pablo Barros
Sony, Belgium
Nikhil Churamani
University of Cambridge
Medtronic Digital Surgery
Laura Triglia
Italian Institute of Technology
Matthias Kerzel
HITeC, Germany
Sponsors and Endorsements
