Busy recently on a large project but I hope to get back into the swing of posting soon!
Anticipation and Expectation
February 18th, 2006 by Ian Wilson Comments »
Not that I want to become just a news bot but a worthwhile read on Gamasutra about Anticipatory AI from Bruce Blumberg who is now Director of the Synthetic Animals Team at Blue Fang Games (Zoo Tycoon).
While they built an impressive sounding system at the M.I.T Synthetic Characters lab to internally model, specifically dog, behavior this article also talks about points of note in terms of using anticipatory actions to aid story telling and the transmission of the characters state.
This system is then heavily dependant on planning, world modeling and having a comparator system, all very major systems in their own right. In order to transmit intention the character must first plan that intention (enough that some action can be taken before the main action), for example looking at a cup before reacing to grasp the cup. Many big problems, having an in house solution makes sense here, especially given Blue Fangs singular focus on animal based games. I have high hopes of good things to come.
Robot F.A.C.E
December 29th, 2005 by Ian Wilson Comments »
Here is a nice attempt at hacking a toy into something more substantial, gives me pause for thought, perhaps I might try this, just for fun. More pictures and videos are on the site after the jump.
More Albert Hubo details
December 29th, 2005 by Ian Wilson Comments »
Thanks to Paul for this note that more information about Albert Hubo is available on David Hansons site, including a very nice video, further to my previous post.
While you are on the site check out some of the pther downloads available, especially the paper debating the uncanny valley and the lack of data to support its premis. Much like my post here about the same subject but more thorough (and some time before my post).
Dead eyes in King Kong
December 5th, 2005 by Ian Wilson Comments »
Quite an amusing article in Wired about high resolution (TV wise) characters that look like zombies. Clive Thompson talks about the uncanny valley which I have explored in the past.
Interestingly the new high def xbox 360 version of the game in question seems to have a completely different and lower quality set of characters than the PS2 version, odd. Anyway, I wont hold my breath waiting for the industry to wake from its slumber but I am always happy to see their customers pointing out the glaring deficiencies in their products 
Hansons Albert Hubo?
November 22nd, 2005 by Ian Wilson Comments »
Lionhead “The Movies”
November 17th, 2005 by Ian Wilson Comments »
Just reading a post about “The Movies” by UK game studio “Lionhead“. This has been eagerly anticipated for some time by the Machinima crowd for its in game movie creation abilities.
It seems many people are taking up the chance to create their own mini movies but one thorough review was very unimpressed, » Read more: Lionhead “The Movies”
“Albert Hubo”, Einstein reanimated
November 17th, 2005 by Ian Wilson Comments »
Looks like KAISTs KH3 robot has been updated (KH4 I assume?) and has had an “expressive” head added. The head is a beautifully crafted model of Albert Einstein (in the craft sense of the word rather than the similarity sense). Apparently it has facial gestures with artificial muscle technology, unfortuately I have not been able to find any movies to see the extent of the gestures possible, however the three images in this post show 2 different expressions and what looks like changes in head pitch. » Read more: “Albert Hubo”, Einstein reanimated
Bio Graphic is bought
November 14th, 2005 by Ian Wilson Comments »
AI Behavior Toolkit maker Bio Graphic was in the news having just completed its sale to Simulation technology company Engenuity for around $2.75 million including assumed debt of around $1.5 million. Bio Graphic has always had a presence in the simulation market although I believe its heart was always in the game/animation space. Like many companies, simulation work pays the bills but like the game / animation business it is mainly custom work and special projects that dont make for a very steady business. By the size of their debt I would not be suprised if cash was getting tight which facilitated the sale? Still a look at their web site shows that they are getting some pretty impressive projects using AI Implant on the movie fx side of the business. They demoed their technology to me a while back, it is very slick with a good interface. I hope this move allows them to move their system forward to greater success and market penetration.
More bad science writing…
November 8th, 2005 by Ian Wilson Comments »Some of you may have seen an article in wired about emotion in games “Can a game make you cry?” citing a research report entitled “Videogames: The Impact of Emotion”. What a poorly researched, sloppy piece of science journalism this is. Add this to the litany of poor science journalism. The thrust of the piece is that “gamers” appreciate emotion in games but it is somewhat misleading in this respect. What we understand by the premise is that game players appreciate more than just killing but also appreciate emotional interaction, this is not what the survey really says. It merely points out the obvious that games give players a sense of competive achievement along with doses of fear and adreneline. What it also fails to mention is that the author, Bowen Research is an agency that specializes exclusively on “Young male consumers, from boys to young adults” so the Wired article reference to “gamers” in fact only represents a sub set of that category.
The research article itself seems trivial at best but can only be read in its entirety upon payment of almost $1000! Im in the wrong business! Perhaps the full report offers some deeper insights, I wonder if the Wired reporter even read it?
