Clive Fencott

Virtual Storytelling as Narrative Potential: Towards an Ecology of Narrative

In this paper virtual storytelling is considered as narrative potential - the integration of agency and narrative. To facilitate this, an aesthetics of VEs is introduced as the context for the analysis of a popular computer role playing game. The game is analysed in terms of Perceptual Opportunities - a content model for virtual environments. From this analysis some inferences are drawn concerning the way in which agency and narrative may be successfully integrated to facilitate virtual storytelling.

Formal Support for the Safety Analysis of Requirement Models

This paper demonstrates the use of an established integrated method (that is Hazard and Operability Studies, Ward and Mellor Essential Models and the Synchronous Calculus of Communicating Systems) to model and analyse control systems. In particular, we discuss the interplay between traditional hazard analysis techniques and formal methods and their associated analyses in the context of an integrated model. Also a process model with tool supports is proposed for developing of a safety-critical software for real-time control systems. Our approach is illustrated by a small but realistic industrial case study.

Comparative content analysis of virtual environments using perceptual opportunities

Our understanding of Virtual Reality (VR) as a communications medium is not as well developed as the technologies of VR themselves.This chapter presents the practical application of a content model of VR, which aims to alleviate this problem. First of all a characterization of the aesthetics of VR is put forward against which the practicalities of the content model can be judged. Then, the content model, based around Perceptual Opportunities (POs), is briefly outlined before it is illustrated in greater detail through its application to the analysis of five Virtual Environments (VEs), two drawn from traditional VR and three from computer games. From the separate analyzes a comparative content analysis is presented which makes surprising links between apparently diverse VEs and allows some insights into VR itself to be drawn.The conclusions document current and future research into POs in particular and VR theory and its practical applications in general.

PRACTICAL FORMAL METHODS FOR PROCESS CONTROL ENGINEERING

Abstract We document the application of formal methods to the specification and verification of the type of process control typically used in safety critical systems. We discuss the use of an executable subset of the formal specification language OBJ to model and verify systems utilising Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) prior to hardware implementation. We specify a stand alone PLC. a common instruction sub-set, and a complete “test engine” combining all the main elements of a PLC, ie. I/O/program scan-I-Program + IO-History. The method integrates with existing techniques for the development of PLC programs which we specify by an abstract data type which models ladder logic. Examples are presented to demonstrate the practicality of the approach and the benefits to be gained from testing such systems in software. The role of such techniques in an industrial safety critical context are discussed, both from the point of view of systems implementation and maintenance. In conclusion we outline current work focusing on hand held tool support, additional formal verification methods, and the application of the technique to systems development within safety standards.