Publications by Daniel Thalmann

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We analyse use of real-time video in virtual environments in interaction between real and virtual humans. We implemented our ideas in a networked collaborative virtual environment system, VLNET and in an augmented reality setup. This paper presents three distinct case studies. The first one is a transatlantic demonstration, where distant users interact with virtual humans through several video tools. Our second case study is development of an augmented reality test bed. The third one presents a distributed

Interactive control of a virtual character through full body movement has a wide range of applications. However, there is a need for systems that accurately reproduce the motion of a performer while accounting for surrounding obstacles. We propose an appro ...

The context of this work is the search for realism and believability of Virtual Humans. Our contribution to achieve this goal is to enable Virtual Humans (VH) to react to spontaneous events in virtual environments (VE). In order to reflect the individualit ...

In this paper, we define the concept of digital actors and show their importance in the future interactive digital television and multimedia. We discuss the applications of these digital actors in the new multimedia services especially for training and education. We summarize the main techniques to create and control these digital actors and emphasize the importance to develop new tools for the control and the autonomy of these actors. An integrated and functional system for the animation of digital actors

This paper introduces four sociological concepts which we argue are important for the creation of autonomous social agents capable of behaving and interacting realistically with each other as virtual humans. A list of functional requirements based on these concepts is then proposed

The purpose of this paper is to identify the problems to solve in order to simulate real-time crowds in a Virtual Environment. We try to classify these problems and study how they have been addressed until now by the research community and our Lab in parti ...

The authors describe how to clothe synthetic actors and the animation of clothes and how to animate these clothes on the basis of a physically-based elastic surface model. Just as a dressmaker does, they first cut several polygonal panels from 2D rectangular planes and then transfer them onto 3D surfaces around the actor. These cloth panels are then seamed to each other and attached to the actor's body by a set of forces, so that a suit of clothes is created. Second, given the external forces, such as gravi

The authors evaluate a multi-level action recognition algorithm for behavioral interactions in inhabited virtual worlds

In this paper, we present our spreadsheet framework, which uses a spreadsheet-likeinterface for exploring biomedical datasets. The principles and advantages of this classof visualization systems are illustrated, and a case study for the analysis of hip joi ...

The ability to correctly identify the existence and polarity of emotion in informal, textual communication is a very important part of a realistic and immersive 3D environment where people communicate with one another through avatars or with an automated s ...

Improving quality, design and comfort is very important for high technology companies in order to stay competitive against the other enterprises. A present problem is that the new physical dedicated prototypes they need to create for the tests are very exp ...

Identifying a precise anatomic skeleton is important in order to ensure high-quality motion capture. In this paper, we discuss two skeleton-fitting techniques based on 3D optical marker data. First, a local technique is proposed, based on relative marker trajectories. Then it is compared to a global optimization of a skeleton model. Various proposals are made to handle the skin deformation problem

This paper presents an obstacle detection system for visually impaired people. User can be alerted of closed obstacles in range while traveling in their environment. The system we propose detects the nearest obstacle via a stereoscopic sonar system and sen ...

Describes a methodology for specifying facial animation based on a multi-layered approach. Each successive layer defines entities from a more abstract point of view, starting with phonemes, and working up through words, sentences, expressions, and emotions. Finally, the high level layer allows the manipulation of these entities, ensuring synchronization of the eye motion with emotions and word flow of a sentence

Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of kinematics and dynamics in motion control for animating three-dimensional characters. It presents a motion control system based on dynamics. Applications of such a system are especially in the area of walking and grasping. It is shown that a simulation of writing a letter is a typical dynamic process. For the animation of the hand itself, a kinematic approach seems to be more convenient. The problem of surface deformations is also briefly mentioned

CAVE systems are nowadays one of the best Virtual Reality (VR) immersive devices available for rendering virtual environments. Unfortunately, such kind of hardware is extremely expensive, complex and cum-bersome, thus limited in its spread. Several cheaper ...

We present current research developments in the Virtual Life of autonomous synthetic actors. After a brief description of the perception action principles with a few simple examples, we emphasize the concept of virtual sensors for virtual humans. In particular, we describe in detail our experiences in implementing virtual vision, tactile, and audition. We then describe perception-based locomotion, a multisensor based method of automatic grasping, and vision-based ball games

This paper addresses interesting interface design issues in the design of 3D clothes and 3D garments for synthetic actors. A complete methodology is presented for realizing what tailors and dress designers have done for centuries: cut flat pieces of cloth according to patterns and pin them around mannequins to see how they fit

In order to display huge scenes with virtual human inhabitants evolving inside a virtual city, we propose a methodology to create and manage different levels of detail for a well-segmented scene without "re-meshing" the scene during simulation. A database dedicated to urban life simulation providing data for planning human actions and behaviour is completed in such a way to furnish also information about the most adapted displayed representation. In this paper we propose a methodology for scene modelling. T

Most of the efforts concerning graphical representations of humans (Virtual Humans) have been focused on synthesizing geometry for static or animated shapes. The next step is to consider a human body not only as a 3D shape, but as an active semantic entity ...

Daniel Thalmann

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Hybrid approaches to interactions between real and virtual humans in mixed environments

Accurate On-line Avatar Control with Collision Anticipation

Simulation of Individual Spontaneous Reactive Behavior

Digital actors for interactive television

Requirements for an architecture for believable social agents

Challenges in Crowd Simulation

The problematics of cloth modeling and animation

Real-time interactions with virtual agents driven by human action identification

Spreadsheet Framework for Visual Exploration of Biomedical Datasets

Sentiment analysis of informal textual communication in cyberspace

Comfortable manipulation of a virtual gearshift prototype with haptic feedback

Local and global skeleton fitting techniques for optical motion capture

Wearable Obstacle Detection System for visually impaired People

SMILE: a multilayered facial animation system

Animation control with dynamics

Practical Design and Implementation of a CAVE Environment

Autonomous virtual actors based on virtual sensors

User interface for fashion design

Database and modelling strategy: a compliant way for display optimisation

An Ontology of Virtual Humans: Incorporating Semantics into Human Shapes