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Virtual Bullying: Virtual Environments as an Educational
ToolSarah Woods
University of Hertfordshire
What does VICTEC stand for?
V: Virtual
ICT: Information Communication
Technology
E: Empathic
C: Characters
Who is involved in VICTEC?
• European Project with partners in the U.K, Portugal and Germany. 3 universities, 1 private research institute,
1 small company• The teams have expertise in:
Psychology, 3D interactive graphics, Socially intelligent agents, Artificial Intelligence and business enterprise.
New Research: VICTEC
Previous bullying interventions strategies have had limited success. Based on the research findings so far, the team hopes to design a new intervention strategy.
Inspired by theatre
Use of performance to dramatise the problem Theatre in Education
– Linked workshops
But Theatre is not a cheap option In every group some will be bullying others Interaction is limited in conventional
performance
The aims of VICTEC - 1
• Implement a Virtual Forum Theatre 3D interactive graphics and virtual actors -
synthetic characters– Individual interaction based on creating empathy with
the characters– Computer game technology - but NOT a game!
Provide a safe & engaging environment for children to explore different perspectives on bullying behaviour.
The aims of VICTEC - 2
•Evaluate the system – Does it affect children’s views on bullying
behaviour? – Do children actually feel empathy with the
characters in the scenarios?
•Integration – How this fits into schools’ social and educational
curriculum for issues around bullying and aggression
Synthetic Character Design
• VICTEC is designing synthetic characters which have a digital or physical entity with personality that can interact with people in real time. Computer games characters are not very
intelligent Do not remember anything about
interaction Hard to believe in them as personalities
How realistic should the characters be?
We want the characters to be believable Is believability the same as realism? Most of us believe in Mickey Mouse…
Characters that are NEARLY realistic may be ‘creepy’ We have high expectations And then they clash with them
Realistic vs. cartoon characters
Realistic vs. cartoon characters
Characters and Cultural differences
The characters need to be country specific if children are to believe in them and have empathic relations with them. In the UK children wear uniform……
Characters and cultural differences
In Portugal children don’t wear uniform!
Designing the school: Realistic or Cartoon?
Cartoon characters & school
Based on questionnaire responses from children, there is a preference for cartoon characters and cartoon looking schools.
School Library and John the Victim
How will we create empathy?
The characters must be believable No re-run - what happens counts Different scenarios and characters
– Emerging story as in improvisational drama, not pre-scripted
Child acting as an ‘invisible friend’. Give advice about dealing with the
situation and see what happens
How will we create empathy?
The characters must have a personality Different personality traits will be modelled
for the bullying roles (bully, victim, bully/victim, bystander etc)
E.g. Bully will have more confidence than a victim.
E.g. Victim will be more anxious and fearful than a bully.
Agent Architecture & Personality Model
Agent architecture must be able to: • Capacity agents to recognise other agents’
states by emotional expressions• Agents must be able to communicate with
other agents• Agents must have emotions• Be able to express emotions by voice,
facial/body expressions, • Respond to emotional states through coping
strategies
Components of the Agent Architecture
• Appraisal Component: based on OCC cognitive model of emotions using active pursuit and interest goals.
• Action Selection Component: After appraising emotion state, agent must decide on best action
• A coping Mechanism: problem focused coping and emotion focused coping
• Affective Expression Component.
Creating believable bullying scenarios
•A software package called Kar2ouche (www.kar2ouche.com/imed/) assisted the psychology team in designing the bullying scenarios.
Believable Bullying Scenarios
• Scenario Introduction The scenario will begin with an introduction to the
main character (victim).
A tour of the school and classroom will then be given highlighting some of the schooling history and the other characters.
The first victimisation event will then occur. The victim will ask the user what he/she should do?
Bullying Scenarios (3)
• The user gives advice This will influence the character
• Repeated - 5 or 6 episodes Similar-but-not-identical incidents but
maybe in different locations with slight difference in cast.
• Child has chance to try out different sorts of advice
Bullying Scenarios (4)
• Ending the session Give the child a summary story (still shots of key
moments) from the episodes Use this to promote reflection: Why did this
happen? How did each character feel?
• Educational messages Also at the end: ‘Don’t suffer in silence, tell
somebody you trust’. Internet addresses and contact no.s will also be supplied.
FearNot
Not the finished software, but how we think it is going to look………………………
FearNot: The evaluation
• Event for 400 children in June 2004 at University of Hertfordshire: Social role-play with robots and agents Questionnaire and interaction with the
software Activities with the robots and ICT software
used in research
Challenges - 1
There is no easy answer No strategy always works Tension between realism and a straightforward
message Do we have to present a happy ending?
• Producing believable characters and varying scenarios Pushing the technology here Especially language for unscripted interaction
Challenges - 2
Cultural differences There is no word exactly equivalent to
‘bullying’ in German or Portuguese School uniform and other differences Where bullying takes place
– No school dinners in Germany– Children unaccompanied to school
Contact Details
•Ruth Aylett (project coordinator)
•Sarah Woods (Psychology)
01707 281133
•The project website
www.victec.org
Carried out with the support of the European Community in the Framework V Programme
