James Michael Niehaus

CONTACT INFORMATION

Postdoctoral Fellow
School of Interactive Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
85 5th Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308

jniehaus AT cc.gatech.edu
http://www.ncsu.edu/jmniehau/

INTERESTS

Interactive Narrative (Narrative Generation, Narrative Understanding,Drama Management)
Artificial Intelligence (Planning, Discourse, Natural Language)
Intelligent User Interfaces (Human Computer Interaction in virtual environments)
Games (Games in Education and Training, Game Design, AI for Games)

EDUCATION

PhD. Computer Science, North Carolina State University
Apr 2009
Dissertation Title:
Cognitive Models of Discourse Comprehension for Narrative Generation
Chair: Dr. R. Michael Young
Committee: Dr. Jon Doyle, Dr. James Lester, Dr. Robert St. Amant, Dr. Stephen Mitroff

B.S. Computer Science, College of Charleston
Magna Cum Laude, May 2004
Graduated with Honors
Bachelor's Essays:
Compiler for Common Lisp for Java Project
Genetic Estimates of Population Dispersal

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology
Sept 2008 - Present
with Dr. Mark Riedl
Developing theory and software for automated adaptation of training scenarios in a life-long learning application. Work in conjunction with researchers at the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California. (LISP)

Research Assistant, North Carolina State University
Aug 2004 - Aug 2008
with Dr. R. Michael Young
Integrated planning technologies with the Mimesis and Zocalo systems for interactive storytelling (C#, .NET, LISP). Developed planning approaches to negative imperative generation. Worked with the HIFIVES project and the College of Education to develop a 3D multiuser game creation environment, Virtuoso, which allows middle school teachers and their students to create games reflecting STEM course content (C++, Valve Source(TM) engine).

Undergraduate Research Assistant, College of Charleston
January 2003 - May 2004
with Dr. Allan Strand
Developed a clean, well documented interface to an individual-based stochastic population engine (R statistical language, C).

TEACHING
EXPERIENCE

STARS Alliance Mentor, North Carolina State University
Mentored two undergraduate students to promote diversity in computing, Fall 2005 - Spring 2006

Teaching Assistant, North Carolina State University
CSC513 - E-Commerce, Spring 2005
CSC520 - Artificial Intelligence, Fall 2005
CSC516 - E-Commerce Practicum, Spring 2006

Supplemental Instructor, College of Charleston
Provided additional tutoring and individual instruction for students.
MATH120 - Introduction to Calculus

INDUSTRY
EXPERIENCE

Software Engineer, Athens Heart Center
Athens, Georgia
May 2006 - Aug 2006
Developed software modules for a Medical Information System (ASP and .NET).

Game Developer, MidCarolina Media
Raleigh, North Carolina
May 2005 - Aug 2005
Core software engineer for Ultimate Duck Hunting, a commercial, shipped 3D multiplayer duck hunting game (C++ and the Torque Game Engine). AI, game mechanics, physics, and art integration. Published by Navarre; sold in Walmart. www.ultimateduckhunting.com

Software Engineer, Compusult Inc.
Charleston, South Carolina
July 2001 - July 2004
Developed GUI frontend and database driven application for quoting, ordering, and contact management (VB 6.0 and SQL).

PUBLICATIONS

REFEREED JOURNALS

[2007] KERNELPOP, a Spatially Explicit Population Genetic Simulation Engine, Strand, Allan and Niehaus, James, Molecular Ecology Notes, v7, pg. 969-973, 2007.

REFEREED CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

[2009] Scenario Adaptation: An Approach to Customizing Computer-Based Training Games and Simulations. Niehaus, James and Riedl, Mark Working Notes of the Workshop on Intelligent Educational Games at the Sixteenth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education. Brighton, England, July 2009. (In press)

[2009] Toward Scenario Adaptation for Learning, Niehaus, James and Riedl, Mark, Poster presentation, Sixteenth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education. Brighton, England, July 2009. (In press)

[2009] A Computational Model for Inferencing in Narrative, Niehaus, James and Young, R. Michael AAAI Spring 2009 Symposium on Interactive Narrative Technologies II. Palo Alto, CA; March 23-25, 2009.

[2008] Automatically Predicting Causal Inferences in the Modified Event Indexing Model, Niehaus, James and Young, R. Michael Eighteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse. Memphis, Tennessee; July 12-15, 2008.

[2005] Toward improving recall and comprehension in automatically generated narratives, Niehaus, James and Young, R. Michael, Working Notes of the Workshop on Narrative Learning Environments at the Twelfth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 2005.

OTHER

[2008] A Computational Model for Focus and Inferencing in Narrative Comprehension, Niehaus, James Oral Examination, North Carolina State University, January 2008.

[2006] Employing Cognitive Theories of Discourse Comprehension to Improve Learning in Interactive Narratives, Niehaus, James and Young, R. Michael, Poster Presentation, The Twenty-First National Conference on Artificial Intelligence Doctoral Consortium (AAAI-DC-06), Boston, Massachusetts, July 2006.

[2006] Achieving Authorial Goals in Computational Narrative Generation, Niehaus, James Written Examination, North Carolina State University, March 2006.

RESEARCH
SOFTWARE

INFER
The INFER system (INferences For Extending Recall), employs the low level constructs of narrative focus, causal inferences, and intentional inferences to increase recall and comprehension of elements within an input narrative. INFER uses a partial-order planning algorithm to select a sequence of discourse content from a log of events. INFER attempts to achieve desired comprehension effects, either by shifting focus to a particular event or character or prompting desirable inferences.

Virtuoso
Virtuoso is a program designed to help novice programmers (e.g. middle and high school students and teachers) build 3D computer games with STEM course content. Virtuoso's user interface makes the process of creating a 3D world, populating it with interactive objects and specifying their behaviors much simpler than in typical game development environments. Using Virtuoso, groups of users work together within a 3D world to build games containing many of the conventions of commercial games, such as HUDs, multi-user, networked and team play, end-game conditions, and splash screens. Developed in conjunction with the NSF-funded HIFIVES project (http://ced.ncsu.edu/hifives/).

Zocalo and Mimesis
Zocalo and Mimesis are systems for generating and executing narratives in story-based games and interactive narratives. They consist primarily of a narrative planner (described below), an execution manager, and a lightweight game engine client. Mimesis is an early LISP implementation of the architecture, and Zocalo is a modern, webservices implementation which is easily extended due to standardized XML schemas and APIs.

Longbow and Crossbow
Longbow and Crossbow are implementations of the DPOCL (Decompositional Partial Order Causal Link) planning algorithm. They are general purpose Partial Order Planners that incorporate elements of Hierarchical Task Network planning. Crossbow was developed in C# as a component in the Zocalo webservice framework.

SERVICES

Reviewer
Journal of Game Development
Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems 2009
International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games 2009
Annual Meeting of the Society for Text & Discourse 2008

PRESENTATIONS

Interactive Narrative Computing, Interactivity, Inferences, and Imagination,
CSC3790 - Intro to Cognitive Science, Georgia Institute of Technology, Nov 2008.

ACADEMIC
HONORS

National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Fellowship Honorable Mention (2004)
North Carolina State University Graduate Dean's Fellowship recipient (2004)
North Carolina State University Graduate Departmental Fellowship recipient (2004-2008)
Member of the College of Charleston Honors Student Association (2000-2004)
South Carolina Life Scholarship recipient (2000-2004)