Interacting with Personality-Rich Characters

Whether reading a novel, watching TV, or enjoying a film, people are captivated by personality-rich interactive characters. They willingly suspend disbelief in order to immerse themselves in vicarious experiences with these characters. More recently, efforts have begun to create interactive characters in computer media. Several interesting questions arise. How can we create personality-rich characters in these new media? Will we be able to create characters that have distinct and recognizable personality types? What sorts of dramatic forms will support person-character interaction? Will people willingly suspend disbelief in order to immerse themselves in interactive experiences with these characters? How will people respond to dramatic interactions with characters? Will they like or dislike particular characters? Will they enjoy the interactive experience? In this paper, we report an initial exploratory study of these issues.