Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

BEAPS: Integrating Volumetric Dynamics in Virtual Agent Prototyping

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Advances in Visual Computing (ISVC 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNIP,volume 13017))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 1178 Accesses

Abstract

Interactive real-time virtual worlds benefit from agents with complex shapes and geometry, imbued with a repertoire of expressive actions suitable for engaging narrative settings. Volumetric simulations like position-based dynamics, often used for motion picture graphics or interactive material simulations, offer a way towards increased expressivity. We describe a proof-of-concept real-time simulation testbed that integrates animated agent behaviors with deformable geometries, specifically GPU-accelerated volumetric soft body dynamics, and custom planners that expand the agents’ behavioral action space. We introduce these simulations in a modular hierarchical event-driven agent prototyping framework aiming for minimal message passing between the CPU and GPU. As a result, more diverse animations, beyond skeletal animation and Inverse Kinematics, are afforded to virtual agents that can be incorporated directly in a narrative setting.

We would like to thank Dr. Mubbasir Kapadia and his team at Rutgers’ Intelligent Visual Interfaces lab for their support.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Bender, J., Müller, M., Macklin, M.: A survey on position based dynamics. In: 2017 Proceedings of the European Association for Computer Graphics: Tutorials, pp. 1–31 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Rivers, A.R., James, D.L.: FastLSM: fast lattice shape matching for robust real-time deformation. ACM Trans. Graph. (TOG) 26(3), 82-es (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Rohmer, D., et al.: Velocity skinning for real-time stylized skeletal animation. In: Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 40, no. 2 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Iwamoto, N., et al.: Multi-layer lattice model for real-time dynamic character deformation. In: Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 34, no. 7 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Chuah, J.H., et al.: Exploring agent physicality and social presence for medical team training. Presence: Teleoper. Virtual Environ. 22(2), 141–170 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Van Welbergen, H., et al.: Real time animation of virtual humans: a trade-off between naturalness and control. In: Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 29, no. 8. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Badler, N.I., Reich, B.D., Webber, B.L.: Towards personalities for animated agents with reactive and planning behaviors. In: Trappl, R., Petta, P. (eds.) Creating Personalities for Synthetic Actors. LNCS, vol. 1195, pp. 43–57. Springer, Heidelberg (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0030569

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Badler, N.I., et al.: A parameterized action representation for virtual human agents, p. 256 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gaisbauer, F., Lampen, E., Agethen, P., Rukzio, E.: Combining heterogeneous digital human simulations: presenting a novel co-simulation approach for incorporating different character animation technologies. Vis. Comput. 37(4), 717–734 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-020-01792-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Shoulson, A., et al.: ADAPT: the agent development and prototyping testbed. IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph. 20(7), 1035–1047 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Clarke, G.: Creating gameplay mechanics with deformable characters. In: 19th annual European GAME-ON Conference (GAME-ON 2018) on Simulation and AI in Computer Games. EUROSIS (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Bishko, L.: Animation principles and Laban movement analysis: movement frameworks for creating empathic character performances. Nonverbal Commun. Virtual Worlds 177–203 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Macklin, M., et al.: Unified particle physics for real-time applications. ACM Trans. Graph. (TOG) 33(4), 1–12 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Hartholt, A., et al.: All together now. In: Aylett, R., Krenn, B., Pelachaud, C., Shimodaira, H. (eds.) IVA 2013. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 8108, pp. 368–381. Springer, Heidelberg (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40415-3_33

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Rodriguez, A.M.R., et al.: Parameterized animated activities. In: Motion, Interaction and Games, pp. 1–9 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Pitiot, T., et al.: Deformable polygonal agents in crowd simulation. Comput. Anim. Virtual Worlds 25(3–4), 341–350 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Austin, J., et al.: Titan: a parallel asynchronous library for multi-agent and soft-body robotics using NVIDIA CUDA. In: 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). IEEE (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Reach, A.M., North, C.: The signals and systems approach to animation. arXiv preprint arXiv:1703.00521 (2017)

  19. Khoo, A., et al.: Efficient, realistic NPC control systems using behavior-based techniques. In: Proceedings of the AAAI 2002 Spring Symposium Series: Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Entertainment (2002)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PerCubed Lab, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Abishek S. Kumar & Stefan Rank

Authors
  1. Abishek S. Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stefan Rank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefan Rank .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    George Bebis

  2. University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA

    Vassilis Athitsos

  3. University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Tong Yan

  4. City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Manfred Lau

  5. School of Engineering and Computing, University of Durham, Durham, Durham, UK

    Frederick Li

  6. Airbnb, New York, NY, USA

    Conglei Shi

  7. Peking University, Beijing, China

    Xiaoru Yuan

  8. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Christos Mousas

  9. IST, School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training, Orlando, FL, USA

    Gerd Bruder

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Kumar, A.S., Rank, S. (2021). BEAPS: Integrating Volumetric Dynamics in Virtual Agent Prototyping. In: Bebis, G., et al. Advances in Visual Computing. ISVC 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13017. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90439-5_34

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90439-5_34

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-90438-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-90439-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation