Active Character: Dynamic Reaction to the User

This paper describes a computer-character system intended to create a natural interaction between the computer and the user. Using predefined control rules, it generates the movements of the computer character's head, body, hands, and gaze-lines according to changes in the user's position and gaze-lines. This system acquires the user's information about the user's position, facial region, and gaze-lines by using a vision subsystem and an eye-tracker unit. The vision subsystem detects the presence of a person, estimates the three-dimensional position of the person by using information acquired by a stationary camera, and determines the locations of the face and hands. The reactive motions of the computer character are generated according to a set of predefined if-then rules. Furthermore, a motion-description file is designed to define simple and complex kinds of gestures.

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