A Knowledge Representation Scheme Formalizing Spatio-Temporal Aspects of Dynamic Situations in Virtual Environments

Abstract

A simulated realistic virtual environment is inhabited by autonomous cyber-humans who play the roles of agents in events. A key element, which enables this realism, is the historical context formed by time and space. A knowledge-representation scheme, composed of both spatial and temporal aspects needed by the agent to respond to dynamically changing situations, is essential for the design of a realistic virtual agent. In this work, spatial and temporal aspects of dynamic situations in the virtual environment have been formalized as a key component of our knowledge-representation scheme. This scheme provides a mathematical framework to construct realistic virtual situations that change with time, and background knowledge for agents in the simulated environment to deduce new pieces of information and plan against changing situations.