Robo-profs

Robotic software helps students learn and solve problems

By FRANCESCA CIMINO
Staff Writer

Two new additions have been made to USC's faculty. However, it may be difficult to track them down around campus simply because they're not human - they're robots.
Steve and Adele, called softbots because they are based solely on software, were introduced last month by a division of the School of Engineering called the Information Sciences Institute (ISI). They are the proud result of a three-year endeavor to invent agents that can assist students in learning new job-specific tasks.
Steve (Soar Training Expert for Virtual Environments) helps students familiarize themselves with the inner workings of U.S. Navy vessels and the equipment on board as they navigate through a virtual reality environment. He answers questions, explains new or difficult tasks and offers hints when one is stumped.
"Steve can see what you're looking at, what buttons you are pushingŠand engage in one-on-one dialogue," said Lewis Johnson, an ISI research associate professor and the director of the institute's Center for Advances Research in Technology for Education.
For a particular task, Steve is given instructions for what goal needs to be achieved and then given a network of ways to achieve that goal, said Jeff Rickel, an ISI research associate professor and Steve's co-creator.
"He doesn't pre-anticipate," Rickel said. "We give him general knowledge and then he can adapt that information and decide for himself."
Richard Angros, a graduate student in computer science, has helped with the project by developing technology that gives Steve the unique ability to watch a human instructor complete a task and then translate the information received into his own language, which he can then manipulate and experiment with on his own.
Steve operates through a complex system of three software modules that control perception, cognition and motor activities. He is able to move around and react to students' actions.
Through the use of special text-to-speech software, Steve can talk to students and is able to understand their responses within the limitations of his programming with the help of speech recognition software.
Rickel explained that Steve also uses gestures and facial expressions to enhance face-to-face dialogue, exemplifying the advances that are being made in the attempt to mimic actual human experience.
Adele (Agent for Distance Education Learning Environments) is an outgrowth of the Steve project. While Steve and Adele both operate on the same principle of assisting students to reach a goal or learn a new task, the idea behind Adele was to apply results from Steve in a broader way, Johnson said.
Adele is implemented as a JAVA-based application that can be accessed through the web. She was designed to provide support for online courses. She is based on a simpler system that, unlike Steve, is more practical for PCs without much memory, Johnson said.
Like Steve, Adele takes every opportunity to instruct or add some advice to any situation. Adele is also able to bring other types of resources into her teaching applications. She will point out relevant background information and web sites as students encounter different problems.
Adele is two-dimensional, but as soon as the web is equipped to handle 3-D figures, she will be re-configured, Johnson said. Adele operates with text-to-speech software similar to Steve's.
Adele is currently being used to train medical students and physicians about patient diagnosis and interaction. She can also be taught to do many other things and is in the process of having her range of knowledge expanded to the dental field.
Her first field test occurred last month with USC medical students and had favorable results, Johnson said. He said he hopes that Adele will become a regular part of the medical curriculum.
Steve and Adele are not widely available for use just yet. While the project to create Steve and Adele had been originally slated for three years, continued funding is being provided by the Office for Naval Research for more research and development.

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 136, No. 01 (Thursday, January 14, 1999), beginning on page 1 and ending on page 3.