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Avatars
Make Computer Science Fun at Orlando Science Center
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Orlando,
FL – September 2014 / Newsmaker Alert / Getting teens interested in
artificial intelligence isn’t tough. Toymakers caught on to their fascination
a few years ago when they began selling $100 robotic pet toys that children
can “program” to do simple tricks through a toymaker’s web site.
However,
getting kids to see beyond the toys and getting them interested in becoming
computer scientists or engineers who create those toys has been a much
harder sell. So, computer scientists and engineers at the University of
Central Florida and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have partnered
with the U.S. National Science Foundation to create a fun interactive museum
exhibit at Orlando Science Center that
aims to teach as well as inspire those students.
The
exhibit is colorful and gives visitors a peek inside the inner workings
of a desktop computer. But it seems pretty bland until the narrator – an
avatar of Alan Turing, the father of theoretical computer science and artificial
intelligence, as well as a World War II hero – gets a hold of the visitor’s
attention.
“We
wanted something engaging and that would tell middle school students a
little about the history of computing and how fascinating it can be,” said
lead investigator for the project Avelino Gonzalez, a UCF computer science
professor. “We had a modest budget, so we couldn’t go crazy. But I think
people will be able to relate to the avatars and their life-like qualities.”
Gonzalez
and fellow engineering professor at UCF Ronald DeMara partnered with Andy
Johnson and Jason Leigh of the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory
for the project. The National Science Foundation funded the work (NSF grant
DRL1138325).
Turing’s
avatar speaks in a proper British accent, voiced over by UCF drama student
Roger Thacher. The avatar guides the museum visitor to “create” his or
her own avatar by making choices offered via speech or through a touch
screen. That new avatar then undergoes the Turing Test to determine if
the avatar is artificially intelligent or not. While the user is interacting
with her avatar, the exhibit explains the many ways we see artificial intelligence
at work, from game playing and robotics to expert systems and neural networks.
The
avatar also introduces the museum visitor to Eliza, the first computerized
chatbot created at Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1964 and
1966. Eliza emulates a psycho-therapist and was among the earliest attempts
to have a computer process natural language. Eliza asks his or her patient
how he or she is feeling, and responds to his/her answer, with sometimes-funny
results.
The
research team, which also included several students, including doctoral
student James Hollister, used photos of themselves as templates that visitors
use to create their own avatars. The team at the UIC turned those photos
into computer-generated avatars.
“Our
effort was to create photo-realistic avatars of people on a limited budget,”
said UIC’s Johnson. “While artificial intelligence delivers the message,
it is more compelling to hear and see a humanized avatar talk than to read
text or listen to a disembodied voice. People are now used to casually
conversing with their iPhones through Siri or when asking Google to search
for information. Using avatars, we can add additional levels of emotion
to the conversation, where the avatar’s body language, facial expressions,
and voice reinforce each other.”
It
took the team more than a year to create the exhibit, which is now housed
on the third floor of Orlando Science Center.
“Orlando
Science Center is always interested in developing experiences around topical
science research — especially if that research is done in our own community,”
said Andrea Hart, an experience designer at the Center. “The exhibit is
a great example of how computer science and engineering can come together
to create an imitation of intelligence, and provides visitors a greater
understanding of what is required to produce such in-depth virtual experiences.”
Gonzalez
said he hopes the exhibit ignites the imagination of future computer scientists
and engineers and convinces some to pursue careers in computer science
or computer engineering.
“AI
refers to the science and engineering of machines that can think like we
do,” Gonzalez said. “How can creating that, not be exciting?”
Website:
www.OSC.org
For
additional information on this release, please contact:
Mark
Schaub
Public
Relations Coordinator
Orlando
Science Center
407-514-2027 |