how about two characters onscreen

[lupine]

hello dogs,
how about two characters on screen at once both with their own graphic and brain. (. = rhetorical)They could 'hear' each other too. only they would have a priority(low) to respond to one another and a priority(high) when the user 'speaks'. then part of their learning could be when and how to repond to the other bot. Am i the first on to think of this?

Thanks for the veiw dog.

[vonsmith]

lupine,
What are you envisioning here; Martin and Lewis, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Gilbert and Sullivan? It has been discussed before, but I don't know if anyone has been able to make it work. In general having two bots try to learn from each other is not very effective. However two "tag team" bots on the screen would be fun to play around with.

See page 1 of this posting:
http://www.zabaware.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1455


=vonsmith=

P.S. - Arf!

[CoCoKid]

Lupine: Two characters talking with each other? Why? What would be gained from this? What I see in your explainnation is two bots, neither would know more than the other, nor could either ever know more than the other. It's impossible to get something from nothing.
If one bot is questioning YOU, or the other bots interpretation, than you are creating more problems.
From my point of view, I now control what Hal learns and how he learns it. I would not want another bot questioning my bot everytime I enter something. Too complicated and heading off course.

I am not against new ideas, but at the same time, I would like to make sure that Hal doesn't turn into a childrens toy, like a Furby.
If Hal turns into a childrens toy, then I will have to Uninstall and move on.

I think it is great news that an update is coming AND the update is targeted at the database design which is a MAJOR step forward!
If the new update contains no more than the Database fix, I would be happy because this opens new doors for Hal. Personally, I can live without the fullbody or even a graphical character at all. I am more concerned with concentrating on Hal as an AI bot. All of these other bells and whistles can always be added anytime between now and then. Again, I only fear that Hal will become stupid, senseless toy.

However, vonsmith has made some great suggestions concerning data handling. (Scott - Hi-Five!)

Robert: Thanks for news on your plans. You know we appreciate everything, including keeping us up-to-date.

-= Rick =-

[lupine]

Obviously you only load the second character if you want to.
both the bots still learn from the user. There is no intended AI value. One could eadily say that they want to do without graphics, since a script is not the same as AI code. We use graphical characters primarily for entertainment. This would also be entertainment.

1Perhaps bots could be assigned to disparate tasks.
2perhaps one bot is moral and one bot plays devils advocate during chat.
3The foundation of the bots training should and could still take place single bot to single user.

people find ways to use tools and features, it is not for me to direct users one way or the other.

if two simultaneous bots was a feature then i would use that feature alot. There are probably more pressing upgrades.

grain of salt.