Using Plush Toys to Direct Autonomous Animated Characters
Summary:
Swamped! is an interactive experience in which instrumented plush toys are used as a tangible, iconic interface for directing autonomous animated characters. Each character has a distinct personality and decides in real time what it should do based on its perception of its environment, its motivational and emotional state, and input from its "conscience," the guest. By manipulating a stuffed animal corresponding to the character the guest can influence how a given character acts and feels.Key Points:The characters incorporate a novel model of behavior and emotion, multi-target motion interpolation and new techniques for real time graphics. Automatic camera and lighting control helps reveal the emotional content of each scene.
By combining research in autonomous character design, automatic camera control, tangible interfaces and action interpretation, Swamped! seeks to create an evocative and novel experience.
Academic Papers:
- Autonomous animated characters whose behavior can be directed in real-time
- Tangible, iconic interfaces for synthetic characters using instrumented plush toys and gesture recognition
- Automatic camera and lighting control that helps reveal emotional state of characters
Swamped! was the first installation to use the Sympathetic Interface concept developed by Michael Patrick Johnson and Prof. Bruce Blumberg. The following paper will be presented at the CHI 99 conference:Video clips:Sympathetic Interfaces: Using a Plush Toy to Direct Synthetic Characters
The video which accompanies the Sympathetic Interfaces paper is available in Quicktime 4 format:300x200 resolution (27.1 mb)More video clips are available on our resources page.
180x120 resolution (11.7 mb)
Images of the system in action:
