Real Time Animation of Virtual Humans: A Trade-off Between Naturalness and Control

Abstract

Virtual humans are employed in many interactive applications using 3D virtual environments, including (serious) games. The motion of such virtual humans should look realistic (or natural ) and allow interaction with the surroundings and other (virtual) humans. Current animation techniques differ in the trade-off they offer between their motion naturalness and the amount of control that can be exerted over the motion. We give an overview of these techniques, focusing on the exact trade-offs made. We show how to parameterize, combine (on different body parts) and concatenate motions to gain control. We discuss several aspects of motion naturalness and show how it can be evaluated. We conclude by showing the promise of combinations of different animation paradigms to enhance both naturalness and control.