Using constraints to describe high-level behaviours in virtual worlds

Abstract

Our aim is to make the authoring of virtual worlds easier for non-specialists, in particular when programming pseudo-intelligent agents within virtual environments.We are designing a high-level language as well as a library of reusable building blocks. We are now working on the definition and the implementation of an homogeneous model for describing 3D objects, their attributes and their behaviours. Constraints are a simple declarative way to describe strong logical relationships between objects; those constraints must be satisfied as much as possible, in order to keep a system in a coherent state. When considering virtual worlds creation, we need to distinguish several kinds of relationships an author may want to express, especially constraints between agents living in an everchanging environment.