Science of Fun

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Science of Fun
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Ten Billion /year from Six Thousand Slot Machines
Foxwoods Casino and Resort
What makes slots fun?
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Pared-down Poker Cutting to the Core of Command
and Control. Proc. of IEEE Symposium on
Computational Intelligence and Games.
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Analyzing humor (and fun) is like dissecting a
frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies
of it.... E.B. White
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Expected Utility Probability Utility
fair slots 1A PJ
A Anted
J Jackpot
P Prob.
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The 20 Question
You have a choice between (s) a sure-thing of
getting 20 (g) a gamble with 20 chance of
getting 100 and 80 chance of getting nothing.
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The 80 Question
You have a choice between (s) a sure-thing of
getting 80 (g) a gamble with 80 chance of
getting 100 and 20 chance of getting nothing.
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De Martino et al. (2006). Frames, Biases and
Rational Decision Making in the Human Brain.
Science, Vol. 313, pp 684-687.
average
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Kahneman and Tversky (1979). Prospect Theory An
Analysis of Decision Under Risk. Econometrica,
Vol. 47, No. 2, pp 263-291.
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Apparent Contribution from Aesthetic Utility W
- P
On a crusade in search of the Holy Grail Its
Fun!
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The Atoms of EVE A Bayesian Basis for Aesthetic
Analysis Artificial Intelligence for Engineering
Design, Analysis and Manufacturing (AIEDAM)
Expectation Violation Explanation
Set-up Punchline Get-it?
Garden Eaten Tragedy?
Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few
people are interested
and the frog dies of it.
Comedy?
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Per EVE, Fun (S) is the sum of pleasure (p)
from success in forming Expectations
(E) pleasure (p) from success in
forming Explanations (E)
S GE GE
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Expectation (E)
Loss (Q1-P)
Win (PProb)
E P log P Q log Q
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Entropy of an event with Prob. P is defined
as Unpredictability Probability
Unexpectability
P -log P
Entropy (-P log P) (-Q log Q)
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Measure of Expectation (E)
This E is a negative entropy
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Violation (V)
V -E
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Explanation (E)
E - H P log P R H- Q log Q
R-
H/H- sense of humor R Bayesian resolution
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Bayesian Belief (? is a Prob.)
posterior prior likelihood R ? (Ye)
? (Y) ? (eY)
e is evidence win or loss Y is hypothesis good
luck or bad luck For slots, posterior 1
R1 (win) or -1 (loss)
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Measure of Explanation (E)
H/H- 2
H/H- 1
S signed/weighted entropies
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Fun S S-thetic utility
S (G E) (G E)
G/G call to adventure
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Fun S S-thetic utility
Goldilocks Function S GE GE
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Assumed by Prospect Theory
Derived by EVEs Theory
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Twenty-one Bell Three Wheel Nickel Slot Machine
(Rake 6). Has 8 different payoff
combinations/probabilities, w/ Pagg 13.
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Game of Skill (Punch Out)
WPI Data
EVE Model
Relating Cognitive Models of Computer Games to
User Evaluations of Entertainment. P. Piselli,
Masters Thesis, WPI Department of Computer
Science, 2006.
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EVEs Fun Functions E log P V -log P E
-log P H R
EVEs Fun Factors H/H- sense of humor G/G
call to adventure F price for pleasure
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Shlomo Dubnov Thoughts About Memex.
http//music.ucsd.edu/sdubnov
Memex Music
Memex, the machine (Bush 1945), was a futuristic
device, For creating and recalling associations
In the form of memory trails. Memex, the music
(Dubnov 2006), is an algorithmic
composition, Designed to create new music from
old music By associations along probabilistic
trails.
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Lets say that the current note in Memex is G -
taken from Bach. To get the next note The
machine will step forward with probability Q - or
jump backward with probability P Where jump
backward is to the same note (different song)
with most similar history.
Bach C D F E C G C
Q
P
Beethoven A F E C G A C
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Mozart D C G B B A
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If it steps, the next note is C. If it jumps, the
next note is A. Beethovens 4 gt Mozarts 2.
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Fun (flow) function computed by EVE with same
G/G as for slots. All E was assumed to be
positive and Resolution (R) was set to Q2.
P was tweaked by the human creator until the
machine composition sounded best, which turned
out to be much like slots a P of 13.
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EVEs Entropy A Formal Gauge of Fun in Games.
In Advanced Intelligent Paradigms in Computer
Games.
SCIENCE OF FUN Imagine a community with
thousands of people sitting at machines playing
games for hours. What makes it fun? Is it virtual
reality? Is it engaging narrative? Is it
multiplayer interaction? Actually, its none of
the above. The community is Foxwoods and the
machines are slots. Ill bet that slots are the
most popular and profitable machine game of all
time more than any modern computer game. I also
think that research and development in digital
media has not done much to advance a scientific
understanding of fun in any game. So I cut to the
chase, dissecting the aesthetic experience using
mathematical analyses and psychological
experiments. I look at gambling, music and
artwork. I show how formal notions of Bayesian
probability and Shannon entropy can explain and
predict feelings of pleasure. I have some demos
to make the math fun. I guarantee you have never
seen fun like this before.
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Historical
Ch 1 Slots of Fun, Slots of Trouble An
Archaeology of Arcade Gaming
Cultural
Rise of Aesthetics
Sociological
Ch 24 Games as the Play of Pleasure
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Psychological
Optimal Experience
Neurological
Surprise!
Personal
Pg 46 Fun is just another word for learning.
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Informational
Shannon Theory
Perceptual
Bayesian Theory
Behavioral
Prospect Theory
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Mathematical
Psychological-Neurological
Theoretical
Computing Comedy
Philosophical
Causality and Probability
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On TRACS Dealing with a Deck of Double-sided
Cards Proc. IEEE Symposium on Comp. Intelligence
and Games.
www.tracsgame.com