. 24/7 Space News .
TECH SPACE
Disney automated system lets characters leap and bound realistically in virtual worlds
by Staff Writers
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 04, 2016


Character motion itself is not a problem - both motion capture and artist-created content have made it possible for characters to move in natural and pleasing ways, said Robert W. Sumner, associate director at Disney Research, who leads the research group on animation and interactive graphics.

Virtual game characters can leap, roll and climb so realistically that simply watching them could seemingly exhaust a player. Generating the precise instructions that govern such characters in increasingly complex environments is also quite labor intensive and, unlike a game, downright tedious.

Scientists at Disney Research, however, have developed an automated approach to generating life-like character motions in interactive environments, helping game designers by both easing their workload and by providing instant feedback on how characters will perform in 3-D space.

The researchers will present their new approach Feb. 27 at i3D 2016, the SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games, in Redmond, Wash.

"Motion synthesis techniques that govern how virtual characters interact with their environment simply have not been designed to scale to the complex virtual worlds and increasingly detailed character motions that are now possible," said Markus Gross, vice president at Disney Research and a co-author of the research paper.

"Our new method is a breakthrough in how characters can navigate through a game environment, enabling acrobatic movements normally only seen in big-budget Hollywood films."

Character motion itself is not a problem - both motion capture and artist-created content have made it possible for characters to move in natural and pleasing ways, said Robert W. Sumner, associate director at Disney Research, who leads the research group on animation and interactive graphics.

The problem is where the character makes contact with the environment; designers now must manually annotate how a character grasps a pole, where to set a character's foot before a leap or even determine what motions are possible in a given space.

"It can be very tedious, especially for motions that involve intricate contacts between the character and the environment," Sumner said.

Mubbasir Kapadia, assistant professor of computer science at Rutgers University and formerly a Disney researcher, said the system automatically analyzes a database of motion clips to define a character's motion signature - what motion skills the character possesses, the pose of hands and feet when they make contact with a surface or grasp an edge, and how the joints and limbs respond when a character collides with a surface.

The system also analyzes the 3-D environment, identifying the spatial relationships between surfaces, identifying what surfaces could physically support a character and determining what motions are possible in a given space.

"Our system seamlessly integrates into existing navigation and animation pipelines to produce virtual characters that can autonomously reason about their environments while employing an expanded repertoire of motion skills to navigate through complex spaces," Kapadia said.

In an evaluation of the system, the Disney researchers showed it could employ 16 motion skills - climbing, squat and roll, double hand vaults, precision jumps and more - while controlling 10 characters in a complex environment.

The system operates in real-time, so players can manipulate the environment - moving around objects in the virtual world that the characters must navigate around, or allowing the player to control one character while being chased by two other characters.

In addition to Gross, Sumner and Kapadia, the research team included Maurizio Nitti of Disney Research, Xu Xianghao of ETH Zurich, Marcelo Kallmann of the University of California, Merced, and Stelian Coros formerly of Disney Research and now at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Disney Research
Space Technology News - Applications and Research






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
TECH SPACE
Virtual reality is next as smartphone sales slow
Barcelona (AFP) Feb 25, 2016
Phone makers, trying to renew consumer appetite, are turning to virtual reality headsets that can be paired with their devices to view videos and play games. "With a slowing smartphone market, one of the ways to generate additional profit is to become a major player in new categories like smartwatches, cameras or virtual reality goggles," said Ian Fogg, head of mobile at research firm IHS. ... read more


TECH SPACE
NASA May Return to Moon, But Only After Cutting Off ISS

Lunar love: When science meets artistry

New Lunar Exhibit Features NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Imagery

NASA releases strange 'music' heard by 1969 astronauts

TECH SPACE
Revisit NASA's Mars Pathfinder and Rover In 360 Viewer

Opportunity Mars Rover Goes Six-Wheeling up a Ridge

Jarosite in the Noctis Labyrinthus Region of Mars

Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli are joined

TECH SPACE
Tools and Talent at Michoud to Complete SLS Core Stage Welding in 2016

Orion Simulations Help Engineers Evaluate Mission Operations for Crew

Orion Test Hardware in Position for Solar Array Test

NASA Space Program Now Requires Russian Language

TECH SPACE
Logistics Rule on Tiangong 2

China to launch second space lab Tiangong-2 in Q3

China's moon lander Chang'e-3 enters 28th lunar day

Staying Alive on Tiangong 2

TECH SPACE
Paragon wins NASA ISS water processor development contract

NASA's Science Command Post Supports Scott Kelly's Year In Space

After nearly a year in space, Scott Kelly craves human contact

Scott Kelly returns to earth, but science for NASA's journey to Mars continues

TECH SPACE
At last second, SpaceX delays satellite launch again

Arianespace Soyuz to launch 2 Galileo satellites in May

SpaceX postpones rocket launch again

Russian rocket engines ban could leave US space program in limbo

TECH SPACE
Imaging Technique May Help Discover Earth-Like Planets Around Other Stars

Newly discovered planet in the Hyades cluster could shed light on planetary evolution

Imaging technique may help discover Earth-like planets

Longest-Lasting Stellar Eclipse Discovered

TECH SPACE
Bone research could yield stronger synthetic materials

New catalyst makes hydrogen peroxide accessible to developing world

Research demonstrates that air data can be used to reconstruct radiological releases

California researchers reveal how to hack a 3D printer









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.