“Heterogeneous character animation: how to make an interactive character jump between stationary and mobile graphical computing platforms”
Conference:
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Title:
- Heterogeneous character animation: how to make an interactive character jump between stationary and mobile graphical computing platforms
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Abstract:
This sketch presents a method for enabling a real-time animated character to appear to jump between a stationary computer screen and a mobile graphical device. This heterogeneous character animation – character animation that takes place across two or more networked and collocated graphical devices – is a key element in the Virtual Raft Project, which is being shown in the Emerging Technologies program at SIGGRAPH 2005. The cross- platform jump occurs when a participant brings a Tablet PC (a “virtual raft”) up to a stationary computer (a “virtual island”). The character’s jump appears very simple to the participant, but technically it involves precise coordination of numerous technical and design elements – autonomous behavior, interactive animation, real-world sensing, inter-device communication, interface design, physical set construction and graphical and sound effects. Approximately 250 participants have interacted with the Virtual Raft Project in groups of ten to twenty at a time; a video of these interactions accompanies this sketch and demonstrates how the characters jump from virtual island to virtual raft. Effective heterogeneous character animation could make possible novel forms of entertainment, education and new media art.
