Design of an Intelligent Navigation System for Participative Computer Animation

Abstract

In this paper, we will propose a novel way of interactive entertainment, called Participative Computer Animation, allowing a user to participate in a computer animated story as an observer. We consider this form of entertainment as a kind of interactive storytelling, in which the presentation and perception of the story is under the control of a user through a first-person camera. As the animation of the story unfolds, the user needs to follow and view the relevant events, a complex task which requires him to navigate in the 3D environment, and hence reduce his immersion. We therefore propose to design an intelligent navigation mechanism, in which the system can voluntarily assist the user in reaching some designated best view configurations under time constraint. We have implemented such a system and invited a few users in a pilot study to evaluate the system and provide feedback. The experimental results show that our participative computer animation system can enhance the sense of presence while the intelligent navigation mechanism can improve the quality of perceiving the animated story.