
Darryl Keith CharlesUniversity of Ulster · Computer Science Research Institute (CSRI)
Darryl Keith Charles
PGCE, B.Eng., MSC, PhD
About
126
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
September 2001 - present
Publications
Publications (126)
A significant challenge for organisations is the timely identification of the abnormalities or deviations in their process executions. Abnormalities are generally due to missing vital aspects of a process or possession of unwanted behaviour in the process execution. Conformance analysis techniques examine the synchronisation between the recorded lo...
In this chapter, we reflect on the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) as a pedagogical and educational instrument and the challenges that arise to ensure transparency and fairness to staff and students . We describe a thought experiment: ‘simulation of AI in education as a massively multiplayer social online game’ (AIEd-MMOG). Here, all act...
Process mining techniques extract useful knowledge from event logs to analyse and improve the quality of process execution. However, size and complexity of the real-world event logs make it difficult to apply standard process mining techniques, thus process discovery results in spaghetti-like models which are difficult to analyse. Several event abs...
PURPOSE: This mixed methods study explored older adults’ experience using a bespoke active computer gaming (ACG) system designed to deliver falls prevention exercise. METHODS: Usability, acceptability and safety were evaluated through observation of system use, questionnaires, in-system ratings, and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative and qual...
Players exhibit varying behaviour from each other when playing games. Indeed, a player's own behaviour will change as they learn to play and changing behaviour may also be indicative of when they are prematurely about to quit playing permanently (known as 'churn'). There can be many reasons for player churn including finding a game too easy, too ha...
Real-world business processes are dynamic, with event logs that are generally unstructured and contain heterogeneous business classes. Process mining techniques derive useful knowledge from such logs but translating them into simplified and logical segments is crucial. Complexity is increased when dealing with business processes with a large number...
Stroke is a leading cause of disability, and with the stroke survivor population rising in most countries it is increasingly difficult to provide optimal treatment to patients once they return home. Assistive technology solutions can potentially contribute to meeting demand, and also be cost effective. In this chapter, we consider the design and de...
In recent years, lot of research has been carried in the field of cloud computing and distributed systems to investigate and understand their performance. Economic impact of energy consumption is of major concern for major companies. Cloud Computing companies (Google, Yahoo, Gaikai, ONLIVE, Amazon and eBay) use large data centers which are comprise...
Background: Intensive rehabilitation is one of the most important aspects of care for people with stroke, and there is evidence that it leads to better recovery and higher levels of independence. However, pressure on resources in government funded secondary and primary healthcare settings means that for many people with stroke, intense rehabilitati...
The prime concern for a business organization is to supply quality services to the customers without any delay or interruption so to establish a good reputation among the customer’s and competitors. On-time delivery of a customers order not only builds trust in the business organization but is also cost effective. Therefore, there is a need is to m...
Purpose
Active computer gaming (ACG) is a way for older people to participate in strength and balance exercise. Involving older adults in the development of a bespoke ACG system may optimise its usability and acceptability. The purpose of this paper is to employ user-centred design to develop an ACG system to deliver strength and balance exercises,...
Exceptional level of research work has been carried in the field of cloud and distributed systems for understanding their performance and reliability. Simulators are becoming popular for designing and testing different types of quality of service (QoS) matrices e.g. energy, virtualisation, and networking. A large amount of resource is wasted when s...
Purpose: Active gaming and virtual reality (AVR) may provide a novel way to deliver falls prevention exercise to older people. “Otago World” is an AVR system designed specifically to deliver strength and balance exercises based on the Otago Exercise Programme (OEP). The aim of the study was to assess the safety, usability and acceptability of this...
Background:
Active computer gaming (ACG) is a method of facilitating physical activity in older people to improve health outcomes.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to update and extend a systematic review of the evidence for ACG to determine its effects on physical and cognitive health in older adults.
Data sources:
MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENT...
Intensive rehabilitation is important for stroke survivors but difficult to achieve due to limited access to rehabilitation therapy. We present a virtual reality rehabilitation system, Target Acquiring Exercise (TAGER), designed to supplement center-based rehabilitation therapy by providing engaging and personalized exercises. TAGER uses natural us...
Intensified rehabilitation is important for stroke survivors but difficult to achieve due to limited access to physiotherapy. We present a virtual reality rehabilitation system, Target Acquiring Exercise (TAGER), designed to supplement center-based physiotherapy by providing engaging and personalized exercises. TAGER uses natural user interface dev...
We present the last in a series of three academic essays which deal with the question of how and why to build a generalized player model. We propose that a general player model needs parameters for subjective experience of play, including: player psychology, game structure, and actions of play. Based on this proposition, we pose three linked resear...
As player demographics broaden it has become important to understand variation in player types. Improved player models can help game designers create games that accommodate a range of playing styles, and may also facilitate the design of systems that detect the currently-expressed player type and adapt dynamically in real-time. Existing approaches...
We present the first in a series of three academic essays which deal with the question of how to build a generalized player model. We begin with a proposition: a general model of players requires parameters for the subjective experience of play, including at least: player psychology, game structure, and actions of play. Based on this proposition, w...
We present the second in a series of three academic essays which deal with the question of how to build a generalized player model. We begin with a proposition: a general model of players requires parameters for the subjective experience of play, including at least three areas: a) player psychology, b) game structure, and c) actions of play. Based...
Existing literature has shown that games and virtual reality can help motivate people thus keeping them engaged for longer. Nonetheless, in most approaches the design of games or virtual reality for rehabilitation purposes tend to apply a basic motivational approach that focuses on the general population of game players. Recent research shows that...
This paper reports on the creation of an application capable of producing intelligent character behavior based on distribution of Artificial Intelligence. To develop, test and experiment on applied Artificial Intelligence, computer games are quickly becoming the ideal simulation test bed for the implementation of computer generated AI. The applicat...
In recent years games and game technology have been used quite widely to investigate if they can help make rehabilitation more engaging for users. The underlying hypothesis is that the motivating qualities of games may be harnessed and embedded into a gamebased rehabilitation system to improve the quality of user participation. We present here the...
In this paper we present a new gamified learning system called Reflex which builds on our previous research, placing greater emphasis on variation in learner motivation and associated behaviour, having a particular focus on gamification typologies. Reflex comprises a browser based 3D virtual world that embeds both learning content and learner feedb...
Purpose
– The Leap Motion represents a new generation of depth sensing cameras designed for close range tracking of hands and fingers, operating with minimal latency and high spatial precision (0.01 mm). The purpose of this paper is to develop virtual reality (VR) simulations of three well-known hand-based rehabilitation tasks using a commercial ga...
This systematic review examined the physical and cognitive effects of physically based interactive computer games (ICGs) in older adults. Literature searching was carried out from January 2000 to June 2011. Eligible studies were trials involving older adults (>65 years) describing the effects of ICGs with a physical component (aerobic, strength, ba...
Enabling players to interact with stories generated using artificial intelligence planning techniques, and thus exert their own influence on the emergent narrative, is an important challenge in the development of interactive computer game worlds. We focus in this paper on story planning in a dynamic storytelling environment and the problem that ari...
Purpose
– Computer‐based systems for motor function rehabilitation have been around for more than a decade, with work done to help recovery of function in the lower limb (ankle, leg) as well as upper limb (hand and arm).
Design/methodology/approach
– More recently there has been a trend towards the use of game‐based systems to deliver rehabilitati...
The power of using machine learning to improve or investigate the experience of play is only beginning to be realised. For instance, the experience of play is a psychological phenomenon, yet common psychological concepts such as the typology of temperaments have not been widely utilised in game design or research. An effective player typology provi...
There are many ways that learning metaphors from games may be harnessed in the construction of motivating and effective game based learning (GBL) experiences. However, significant difficulties exist in the creation of GBL software for use within education and GBL related research. Two of the primary difficulties, which provide the focus for this pa...
Most stories constructed by game designers are inherently linear in nature, with the result that player interactions have limited impact on the direction of the game narrative. Massively multiplayer online role-play games (MMORPGs) typically contain thousands of linearly scripted storylines, and stories generally do not adapt to player interactions...
It has previously been shown that the gamification of learning processes within a higher education degree can enhance engagement on a course (Charles, 2010). This approach exposed the "mechanics" or "rules" of a course of learning through game based feedback techniques; so that a student's individual understanding of what is expected for him/her to...
Despite advances in game technology, most stories constructed by game designers remain inherently linear in nature, and player
actions often have limited impact on the central story. In interactive storytelling approaches, an important challenge is
the creation of stable yet dynamic environments to allow the emergence of unscripted stories involvin...
Recently there has been much research focus on the use of Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms for game agent control. However, although it has been shown that such agents are capable of learning in real time, the high dimensionality of agent sensor state spaces still prove to be a significant barrier to progress. This paper outlines an approach...
It is generally accepted that informative and timely feedback is important to a student's learning experience within higher education. In the study of commercial digital games it has also become increasingly understood that games are particularly good at providing effective feedback of this form to gameplayers. We discuss recent game based learning...
Stroke is the number one cause of severe physical disability in the UK. Recent studies have shown that technologies such as virtual reality and imaging can provide an engaging and motivating tool for physical rehabilitation. In this paper we summarize previous work in our group using virtual reality technology and webcam-based games. We then presen...
Effective stroke rehabilitation must be early, intensive and repetitive, which can lead to problems with patient motivation
and engagement. The design of video games, often associated with good user engagement, may offer insights into how more effective
systems for stroke rehabilitation can be developed. In this paper we identify game design princi...
Stroke is the number one cause of severe physical disability in the UK. Recent studies have shown that technologies such as virtual reality and imaging can provide an engaging and motivating tool for physical rehabilitation. In this paper we review work in our group using virtual reality technology and webcam-based games. We then present early work...
We describe the results of a modeling methodology that combines the formal choice-system representation of decision theory with a human player-focused description of the behavioral features of game play in Pacman. This predictive player modeler addresses issues raised in previous work and, to produce reliable accuracy. This paper focuses on using p...
This paper investigates the use of a dynamically generated exploration rate when using a reinforcement learning-based game agent controller within a dynamic digital game environment. Temporal difference learning has been employed for the real-time generation of reactive game agent behaviors within a variation of classic arcade game Pac-Man. Due to...
Stroke is a leading cause of severe physical disability, causing a range of impairments. Frequently stroke survivors are left with partial paralysis on one side of the body and movement can be severely restricted in the affected sidepsilas hand and arm. We know that effective rehabilitation must be early, intensive and repetitive, which leads to th...
It has been widely documented that student-staff ratios continue to rise in higher education (H.E.) within the UK. As a consequence, H.E. institutions are becoming increasingly reliant on e-learning tools and this has increased difficulties that students experience in making the transition from secondary to tertiary education. In H.E., students gen...
In recent years, Game Based Learning (GBL) has received considerable attention as an approach to improving the educational experience for students. In particular, Higher Education institutions have used GBL to help improve student engagement and retention. Research conducted at the University of Ulster over the past three years has demonstrated tha...
Recent studies have shown the potential benefits of applying technology to stroke rehabilitation. Traditional rehabilitation tasks are often mundane, and can lead to a lack of patient motivation, resulting in little or no independent patient exercise taking place. We describe a low-cost visual tracking system suitable for upper limb stroke rehabili...
In the domain of computer games, research into the interaction between player and game has centred on 'enjoyment', often drawing in particular on optimal experience research and Csikszentmihalyi's 'Flow theory'. Flow is a well-established construct for examining experience in any setting and its application to game-play is intuitive. Nevertheless,...
Artificial intelligence for digital games constitutes the implementation of a set of algorithms and techniques from both traditional
and modern artificial intelligence in order to provide solutions to a range of game dependent problems. However, the majority
of current approaches lead to predefined, static and predictable game agent responses, with...
Playing computer games has a significant educational element. In particular, this occurs in understanding the rules of a game, puzzling through the ever-increasing difficulties posed as the game progresses, and developing expertise in operating the controls quickly and accurately. Players typically take on these challenges enthusiastically and are...
The aim of this paper is to enhance the performance of a reinforcement learning game agent controller, within a dynamic game environment, through the retention of learned information over a series of consecutive games. Using a variation of the classic arcade game Pac-Man, the Sarsa algorithm has been utilised for the control of the Pac-Man game age...
We noted in the previous chapters that, while the multilayer perceptron is capable of approximating any continuous function, it can suffer from excessively long training times. In this chapter we will investigate methods of shortening training times for artificial neural networks using supervised learning. (Haykin, 1999) is a particularly good refe...
This chapter provides a brief outline of the history of video game AI – and hence by extension an extremely brief outline of some of the key points in the history of video games themselves. The objectives of this chapter are to provide an overview of this broad topic, and to outline those areas which this book will focus on – and to explain why oth...
Ants are truly amazing creatures. Most species of ant are virtually blind; some of which have no vision at all, yet despite this, they are able to explore and find their way around their environment, discovering and ‘remembering’ routes between their nest and food sources. Ants exhibit complex social behaviours, with different roles assigned to dif...
In this chapter we will look at supervised learning in more detail, beginning with one of the simplest (and earliest) supervised neural learning algorithms – the Delta Rule. The objectives of this chapter are to provide a solid grounding in the theory and practice of problem solving with artificial neural networks – and an appreciation of some of t...
Multi-Objective Problems, MOP, are a class of problems for which different, competing, objectives are to be satisfied and for which there is generally no single best solution – but rather for which a set of solutions may exist which are all equally as good. In commercial real-time strategy, RTS, games, designers put a lot of effort into trying to c...
The methods in this chapter were developed in response to the need for general purpose methods for solving complex optimisation problems. A classical problem addressed is the Travelling Salesman Problem in which a salesman must visit each of n cities once and only once in an optimum order - that which minimises his travelling. While not typical of...
With the artificial neural networks which we have met so far, we must have a training set on which we already have the answers to the questions which we are going to pose to the network. Yet humans appear to be able to learn (indeed some would say can only learn) without explicit supervision. The aim of unsupervised learning is to mimic this aspect...
In this short chapter we present a case study of the use of ANN in a video game type situation. The example is one of duelling robots, a problem which, as we will see, lends itself to a range of different solutions – and where we can demonstrate the efficacy of a biologically inspired AI approach.
We now consider the problem of introducing more intelligence into the artificial intelligence’s responses in real-time strategy games (RTS). We discuss how the paradigm of artificial immune systems (AIS) gives us an effective model to improve the AI’s responses and demonstrate with simple games how the AIS work. We further discuss how the AIS parad...
It is very evident that current progress in developing realistic and believable game AI lags behind that in developing realistic graphical and physical models. For example, in the years between the development of Neverwinter Nights by Bioware and the release of its sequel Neverwinter Nights 2 by Obsidian in collaboration with Bioware there were obv...
Just as there are many different types of supervised and unsupervised learning, so there are many different types of reinforcement learning. Reinforcement learning is appropriate for an AI or agent which is actively exploring its environment and also actively exploring what actions are best to take in different situations. Reinforcement learning is...
This book centres on biologically inspired machine learning algorithms for use in computer and video game technology. One of the important reasons for employing learning in computer games is that there is a strong desire by many developers and publishers within the industry to make games adaptive. For example, Manslow (2002) states, ‘The widespread...
The last two chapters introduced the standard GA, presented an example case study and explored some of the potential pitfalls in using evolutionary methods. This chapter focuses on a number of extensions and variations of the standard GA. While there is not room to cover them all, many extensions to GAs have been proposed usually in response to sit...
The design of the first computers were influenced by the power of the human brain and attempts to create artificial intelligence, yet modern day digital computers are very different from what we understand about human neural processing. Most computers today are sequential (or only partially parallel) and have no (or very limited) learning capabilit...
Computer and videogames have been described using several formal systems - in this paper we consider them as Information Systems. In particular, we use a Decision Theoretic approach to model and analyse off-line, data from Pacman TM players. Our method attempts to calculate the optimal choices available to a player based on key utilities for a give...
This paper describes the development of a Virtual Reality (VR) based therapeutic training system aimed at encourage stroke
patients with upper limb motor disorders to practice physical exercises. The system contains a series of physically-based
VR games. Physically-based simulation provides realistic motion of virtual objects by modelling the behav...
Computer games are often played by a human player against an artificial intelligence software entity. In order to truly respond in a human-like manner, the artificial intelligence in games must be adaptive, or respond as a human player would as he/she learns to play a game. Biologically Inspired Artificial Intelligence for Computer Games reviews se...
The design of the first computers were influenced by the power of the human brain and attempts to create artificial intelligence, yet modern day digital computers are very different from what we understand about human neural processing. Most computers today are sequential (or only partially parallel) and have no (or very limited) learning capabilit...
It is very evident that current progress in developing realistic and believable game AI lags behind that in developing realistic graphical and physical models. For example, in the years between the development of Neverwinter Nights by Bioware and the release of its sequel Neverwinter Nights 2 by Obsidian in collaboration with Bioware there were obv...
The last two chapters introduced the standard GA, presented an example case study and explored some of the potential pitfalls in using evolutionary methods. This chapter focuses on a number of extensions and variations of the standard GA. While there is not room to cover them all, many extensions to GAs have been proposed usually in response to sit...
This book centres on biologically inspired machine learning algorithms for use in computer and video game technology. One of the important reasons for employing learning in computer games is that there is a strong desire by many developers and publishers within the industry to make games adaptive. For example, Manslow (2002) states, ‘The widespread...
This chapter provides a brief outline of the history of video game AI – and hence by extension an extremely brief outline of some of the key points in the history of video games themselves. The objectives of this chapter are to provide an overview of this broad topic, and to outline those areas which this book will focus on – and to explain why oth...
Multi-Objective Problems, MOP, are a class of problems for which different, competing, objectives are to be satisfied and for which there is generally no single best solution – but rather for which a set of solutions may exist which are all equally as good. In commercial real-time strategy, RTS, games, designers put a lot of effort into trying to c...
In this short chapter we present a case study of the use of ANN in a video game type situation. The example is one of duelling robots, a problem which, as we will see, lends itself to a range of different solutions – and where we can demonstrate the efficacy of a biologically inspired AI approach.
The methods in this chapter were developed in response to the need for general purpose methods for solving complex optimisation problems. A classical problem addressed is the Travelling Salesman Problem in which a salesman must visit each of n cities once and only once in an optimum order - that which minimises his travelling. While not typical of...
Just as there are many different types of supervised and unsupervised learning, so there are many different types of reinforcement learning. Reinforcement learning is appropriate for an AI or agent which is actively exploring its environment and also actively exploring what actions are best to take in different situations. Reinforcement learning is...