AtomicOrchid: A Mixed Reality Game to Investigate Coordination in Disaster Response

Abstract

Abstract. In this paper, we draw on serious mixed reality games as an approach to explore and design for coordination in disaster response scenarios. We introduce AtomicOrchid, a real-time location-based game to explore coordination and agile teaming under temporal and spatial constraints according to our approach. We outline the research plan to study the various interactional arrangements in which human responders can be supported by agents in disaster response scenarios in the future.

Team reactions to voiced agent instructions in a pervasive game

“…They are frequently used as a research tool for exploring complex social and technological issues in an engaging way [e.g. disaster response [10]. The primary benefit of pervasive games is the fact that they can be situated, which can lead to improvements in the efficacy of the behavioral observations made [11].…”

“…One clear example of how such collectives might work is in disaster response [10], where agents could assist in data collection in inaccessible areas (e.g. scouting aerial drones), and decision-making (e.g.…”

Using Digital Game, Augmented Reality, and Head Mounted Displays for Immediate-Action Commander Training

“…AR systems for disaster education frequently realize this integration as a mixed reality game (MRG) or an alternate reality game (ARG) that works on portable computers (e.g., smartphones and tablets). For example, Fischer et al [16] developed a geofencing MRG, where field players can learn disaster response coordination by observing the virtual disaster situations (e.g., radioactive pollution areas) on a digital map. Meesters and Van de Walle [17] developed an ARG, where field players can learn disaster information management (e.g., rescue operations) while carrying out missions presented on portable computers and interacting with volunteer actors who play roles (e.g., victims and police officers) in virtual disaster situations.…”

A Framework for Programming Norm-Aware Multi-agent Systems

“…The agents are connected to the tuple space through an extension of the N-2APL Environment class and in an agent program the tuple space is accessed in the same way as any other external environment. 6 The normative organisation accesses the tuple space through Prolog queries that wrap native Java method calls to the 'Prolog to Java' middleware used by both the N-2APL Environment class and 2OPL (see Figure 6).…”

“…The use of a tuple space makes it straightforward to integrate other system components. To illustrate the flexibility of our framework, we briefly describe its application in a novel normative application, a mixed reality game called GeoSense [6]. We show how GeoSense game rules can be expressed as conditional norms with deadlines and sanctions, and how agents can deliberate about their individual goals and the norms imposed by the game.…”