Publications by Daniel Thalmann

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We show the evolution from the earliest frame-by-frame synthetic actors to real-time perceptive actors living in distributed virtual environments or even in the real world. We first compare requirements and methods for frame-by-frame and real-time actors. Then, we introduce a new classification of synthetic actors with four categories: participants, guided actors, autonomous actors, and interactive perceptive actors. Actors of this last category are not only aware of other actors and real people, but they a

Presents the μ-machine which is a network of abstract machines. After a survey of these abstract machines, problems of intercommunications are explained. Researches in the areas of data portability and machine-independent I/O are discussed. The last part of the paper gives an informal presentation of the high-level language JOSEPHINE especially designed for software portability, multiprogramming and data communications

This paper explores the potential of prioritized Inverse Kinematics for full body motion capture. We are especially interested in compensating for the use of a minimal set of sensors by proposing pertinent constraints associated with a priority level. We evaluate the believability issues and the performance requirements arising through a case study exploiting recorded motions of professional clarinet performers. We conclude by presenting a framework in which end users can easily configure the IK engine for

Motion capture has been adopted for the production of highly realistic movements, as well as for the clinical analysis of pathological motion. In both cases, a skeleton model has to be identified to derive the joint motion. The optical technology has gained popularity due to the high precision of its marker position measurements. However, when it comes to building the skeleton frames out of the 3D marker positions, significant local skin deformations may penalize the quality of the model reconstruction. We

The paper presents a model of nonverbal communication and interpersonal relationship between virtual actors. Nonverbal communication improves their believability. They react not only to the presence of the other actors but also to their postures. Furthermore, their interpersonal relationships me affected by the issue of social interactions. To avoid homogenous group behaviors, each actor is set with a different character profile. We present an application of this model to create actors involved in social in

Despite the fact that dematerialization of all our multimedia content brings advantages, the absence of physical medium brings also a lack of tangibility. This paper presents a gesture-based interface to bring back tangibility in our dematerialized multime ...

The growth of motion capture systems have contributed to the proliferation of human motion database, mainly because human motion is important in many applications, ranging from games entertainment and films to sports and medicine. However, the captured mot ...

A standard for representing avatars in VRML worlds has been specified by the HANIM (Humanoid ANIMation) Working Group. Avatars based on these specifications are generally composed of a set of body surfaces which do not ensure that continuity between connected body parts is satisfied. This paper proposes a generic method for performing real-time body deformations using Java and VRML. This method allows the generation of seamless bodies that are fully compatible with the HANIM standard

The increasing use of Virtual Reality in the treatment of phobias translates in a just as expanding need for realism in its scenes and characters. Virtual characters need to seem gifted with intelligence. A first step in achieving this is by giving them th ...

The following topics are dealt with: motion capture and 3D reconstruction; parametric motion and retargeting; muscles and deformation models; facial animation and communication; and high-level behaviors and autonomous agents

This paper discusses the main issues for creating interactive virtual environments with virtual humans emphasizing the following aspects: creation of virtual humans, gestures, interaction with objects, multimodal communication

Expressive facial animation synthesis of human like characters has had many approaches with good results. MPEG-4 standard has functioned as the basis of many of those approaches. In this paper we would like to lay out the knowledge of some of those approac ...

The full-body control of virtual characters is a promising technique for application fields such as Virtual Prototyping. However it is important to assess to what extent the user full-body behavior is modified when immersed in a virtual environment. In the ...

This paper proposes a new emotional model for Virtual Humans (VHs) in a conversational environment. As a part of a multi-users emotional 3D-chatting system, this paper focus on how to formulate and visualize the flow of emotional state defined by the Valen ...

Despite its history of several decades and impressive achievements, developing a VR application is still a complex task. Setting-up a Virtual Environment requires choosing a suitable combination of elements from a large amount of technologies, software fra ...

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 such a way to furnish information about the most adapted displayed representations

Using virtual humans to represent participants promotes realism in networked VEs. Different message types used to animate the human body and face impose varying network requirements, as analyzed here

A crowd is not only a group of many individuals. Crowd modelling involves problems that arise only when we focus on crowds. For instance, avoiding collision problems related to a big number of individuals in the same place require different strategies in comparison with the methods used to avoid collision between individuals. The paper is concerned with a discussion about the requirements to model behaviours of crowds of virtual actors

We present an overview of some principles of synthetic vision and audition for digital autonomous actors in virtual worlds. After a short review of the state of the art we focus on some aspects of synthetic vision and virtual world constraints. Then we present a simple real time structured sound renderer. This sound renderer is used as audition channel for synthetic and real actors and synchronized sound track generator for video film productions

Daniel Thalmann

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A new generation of synthetic actors: The real-time and interactive perceptive actors

Networks of abstract machines

Towards Configurable Motion Capture with Prioritized Inverse Kinematics

Visualization of Local Movements for Optimal Marker Positioning

A model of nonverbal communication and interpersonal relationship between virtual actors

Tangible drag-and-drop: Transferring digital content with a remote control

Motion Pattern Encapsulation for Data-Driven Constraint-Based Motion Editing

A seamless shape for HANIM compliant bodies

Eye Contact as Trigger for Modification of Virtual Character Behavior

Deformable Avatars

Virtual Perception and Learning: Tools to Improve Sense of Presence Quality

The virtual human as a multimodal interface

Emotional face expression profiles supported by virtual human ontology

Characterizing full-body reach duration across task and viewpoint modalities

An NVC Emotional Model for Conversational Virtual Humans in a 3D Chatting Environment

Standardized Virtual Reality, are we there yet ?

Database and modelling strategy: a compliant way for display optimisation

Virtual human representation and communication in VLNet

From one virtual actor to virtual crowds: requirements and constraints

Synthetic vision and audition for digital actors