Expressive Processing: Digital Fictions, Computer Games, and Software Studies Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Expressive Processing: Digital Fictions, Computer Games, and Software Studies? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Expressive Processing: Digital Fictions, Computer Games, and Software Studies. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Expressive Processing: Digital Fictions, Computer Games, and Software Studies ReviewThis book is a great read, highly recommended for anyone interested in how to use computers for expressive purposes, whether in artificial intelligence systems, videogames, or electronic literature.
Wardrip-Fruin's basic point is that processes are the mechanism by which computers function as "media machines", and we should analyze expressive/aesthetic computational works by looking at what processes they use, how they use them, and what the effects are. This avoids either treating them as black-boxes to be understood only by looking at effects on audiences, or as technical artifacts to be understood by looking at literal lines of C++ or Lisp.
But, refreshingly, the vast majority of a book is not a theoretical argument for that point. Instead, it gets its hands dirty analyzing a number of specific pieces, to understand how each one works: what processes does the system use, for what purposes, and how does that contribute to its goals and experience? How visible or hidden are the processes from the user/player? If we trace what can actually happen in a system, how does this match up with what processes it nominally claims to be using?
Much of the tension the book identifies is between the internal processes of a system, and what users/players think is going on. The well-known "Eliza effect" takes place when a system appears to have more processing going on than it actually does. The canonical example is the classic chatbot Eliza, which users often think is doing complex internal AI to respond to their queries, while in reality it uses extremely simple logic. To this effect, Wardrip-Fruin adds the opposite: in the "Tale-Spin effect", a system is doing a bunch of complex internal processing, but in an invisible way, so that users think that a system is actually fairly simple. The book's analyses of Universe, Minstrel, Terminal Time, F.E.A.R., and BRUTUS along this axis should be of particular interest to anyone wanting to make entertainment or artistic use of AI systems.
There are many more specific insights as well; among too many to list, the section on dialogue trees (starting on p. 51) is probably the most thorough analysis of different kinds of dialogue trees, and how and when to use them, that I've seen in print. Since the book has something of a case-study format, these can profitably be read in isolation for someone who doesn't want to read the entire book. Some of the works profiled at length include: the videogames Sim City, F.E.A.R., Knights of the Old Republic, and Façade; the story-generation systems Minstrel, BRUTUS, Tale-Spin, and Universe; the chatbot Eliza; and the satirical AI systems The Goldwater Machine and Terminal Time.Expressive Processing: Digital Fictions, Computer Games, and Software Studies OverviewFrom the complex city-planning game SimCity to the virtual therapistEliza: how computational processes open possibilities for understanding and creatingdigital media.

Want to learn more information about Expressive Processing: Digital Fictions, Computer Games, and Software Studies?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now