Alma

In this paper we introduce ALMA - A Layered Model of Affect. It integrates three major affective characteristics: emotions, moods and personality that cover short, medium, and long term affect. The use of this model consists of two phases: In the preparation phase appraisal rules and personality profiles for characters must be specified with the help of AffectML - our XML based affect modeling language. In the runtime phase, the specified appraisal rules are used to compute real-time emotions and moods as results of a subjective appraisal of relevant input. The computed affective characteristics are represented in AffectML and can be processed by sub-sequent modules that control the cognitive processes and physical behavior of embodied conversational characters. ALMA is part of the VirtualHuman project which develops interactive virtual characters that serve as dialog partners with human-like conversational skills. ALMA provides our virtual humans with a personality profile and with real-time emotions and moods. These are used by the multimodal behavior generation module to enrich the lifelike and believable qualities.