CONTENT > IDLE & AUTONOMOUS CONTENT

Although Quasi's content development tools were designed for creating autonomous interactive experiences, the majority of the content developed for Quasi to this point has been semi-interactive or pre-scripted. This will change shortly, as one of the goals for this iteration of the Interbots project is to further develop Quasi's character and personality by creating a wide variety of new autonomous content.

Currently, Quasi's autonomous idle behavior centers around one major function-- his ability to dispense candy. Quasi's kiosk is equipped with a motion detector and several IR sensors. When he senses that someone is nearby, he beckons them forward. Quasi has the ability to track faces, so as people move around his kiosk, his gaze follows them.

Quasi can recognize specific individuals through the use of an iButton reader. Many students at the ETC carry an iButton on their keychain, and can "log in" to Quasi by pressing their button to the reader. Quasi remembers information about each person who has an iButton including their name, the last time they logged in, how often they log in, and what their relationship is, from "casual acquaintances" to "family". The more a person interacts with Quasi, the closer their relationship becomes.

Quasi's behavior is governed by his current internal emotions and other, external environmental inputs including ambient sounds, data from the motion detector and long range IR sensors, and the amount of candy remaining in the dispensers. Quasi can be programmed to have any number of various emotions-- the candy dispenser personality has happiness, aggressiveness, loneliness, cleanliness, and attention.

Depending on Quasi's current "mood", a person's relationship with Quasi, and how often that person has interacted with Quasi in the recent and long-term past, Quasi will either give the person candy when they log in, or shake his head angrily without dispensing candy. If a member of Quasi's "family" logs in, they will always receive candy no matter what mood Quasi is in or how often they've received candy in the recent past.

The "grumpier" Quasi is, the more likely it is that acquaintances and friends will be denied candy. If a person repeatedly requests candy within a short span of time, Quasi begins to feel as if he's being used for his candy. He becomes more and more angry, and refuses the requests for candy.