Portable non-player character tutors with quest activities

Abstract

Massively multiuser online games such as World of Warcraft employ computer controlled non-player characters (NPCs) and quest activities extensively in tutoring capacities that incorporate active learning, incremental progress, and creative repetition. This poster explores ways to use this model in educational virtual environments (VE), using NPCs as anthropocentric keys to organize and deliver educational content. Our educational NPC design includes a knowledge model and a user performance model, in addition to the physical traits, behavior model, and dialog model necessary to make them interesting, credible members of the environment. Formatted web-based educational content, exercises, and quizzes are imported into the virtual worlds (VWs), reducing the effort needed to create new educational NPCs. The NPC architecture in this poster supports simple multi-platform NPCs that offer educational quests to users in two VEs, CVE and Second Life.