Machine Learning in GamesGeorge DolbierCTO Interactive Media IBM

What is Machine Learning?

Software thatLearns and Produces

WithoutExplicit

Programming

ASK DISCOVEREXPLORE DECIDE VISUALIZE

Ask questions for greater insight

Natural language dialogue & robotics

Image Video Audio spam OCR

Evidence-based decisions with with traceability

Consolidate and visualize

Loci of Machine Learning

Try this for fun Google “Personality Insights Demo” or use this QR code to go tohttps://personality-insights-livedemo.mybluemix.net/

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Machine Learning in Games

Creating better play experienceCase Study

Balance and Engagement

One of the hardest problems in game design is Play Balance.

Poor progression ramps, too steep, too shallow, awkward jumps, sited as #1 factor in dis-engagement

Questions posed to the team:

• Can an ML be used to balance the play experience?

• How can you tailor an experience for a specific player?

• Can the individual’s telemetry data be used to make better balance decisions?

• Can Curated content be delivered to players programmatically to produce a better overall experience?

Case Study : Plight of the ZombieSituation:

• Simple puzzle game• Dozens of short 30 to 90 second experiences• Designed by level designers• Each level given a “curated/seeded” difficulty

For this initial use case 3 variables are considered:1. Time it took player to complete level2. Number of retries the player took to complete level3. Curated difficulty metric assigned to each level

John O’Neil: Sparkplug Games

How tradeoff is used to balance the gameShow Watson Tradeoff call

ResultPlayer plays through tutorial levels, and seeded “easy” levels

3 Tutorial levels, 2 “easy” levels

By the 5 level enough data has been collected for Watson to begin suggesting ramp in difficulty

Next StepsFor this simple use case next obvious steps will be:Use all player telemetry to correct difficulty settingsHave Watson identify play patterns in player baseHave Watson tell developers progression, engagement, trends

− How long to players play− Are players playing longer, shorter− What is triggering in game purchase or conversation

Have Watson automatically generate freebies or offers based on struggle

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Machine Learning in Games

Truly Interactive NPCCase Study

Real time interaction with a fictional character

A Long time desire in the industry

Can you create a character, that a human can interact with?

Can you have a conversation with a character that includesA BackstoryAn AttitudeLikes, DislikesConversation Not just scripted QnA tree

https://www.thesuspect.com/

The Suspect - Immersive chat thriller

Second screen app with synchronised news alerts

and live 3D brain scan

Main screen with dynamic video, AI chat powered by Watson, gamified experience, and transmedia storyline

Gamified conversation with simulated points, level and rank

Contextually-served video to match suspect’s responses

Case Study : The Suspect

Can we “Throw everything we can” into a characterAnd through natural conversation, bring the player into the character’s world

3 Types of information make up the personality1.Mind Map2.Traditional Q and A (Word) 3.Conversation loops (how does character react to repeated

questions)8 to 10 people total, core team maxed at 6, calendar time 18 months

Core team focused development 4 months

Guy Gadney: Lead Developer for “The Suspect”

Use of Conversational technologyConversational chat bot associated with Brazilian TV showAverage session was 20 minutes8% of chats lasted for over an hour (Target Audience)Site traffic increased 15%. This lead to an increase in advertising revenue around the project's pages.

But Wait! There is More:Alpha Go! https://deepmind.com/alpha-goProject Aries http://goo.gl/eMAQMuGuy Gandy HowWeGetToNext article on chatbots https://goo.gl/6xTCafMedical Minecraft http://goo.gl/dD8BMxFashion Design http://goo.gl/Ps9EBCGoogle machine learning recipes : https://goo.gl/9k2ASxMari/o Using evolution to train neural networks https://goo.gl/Jxf73VArtomatix ML for texturing https://artomatix.com/

Thank yougeorged@us.ibm.com@NoirTalonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/georgedolbier