GI'96 Online Papers

Knowledge-driven, interactive animation of human running

Armin Bruderlin and Tom Calvert

Abstract

A high-level motion control system for the animation of human-like figures is introduced which generates a wide variety of individual running styles in real time. Sequences such as a leisurely jog, a fast sprint or a bouncy run are conveniently obtained by interactively setting the values of ``running'' parameters such as desired velocity, step length, ``flight'' height or ``heel/toe'' strike while observing a running figure on the screen.

The algorithm incorporates knowledge of how humans run at several levels: empirical knowledge defines the relationships between the running parameters; for example, a change in running velocity by the user triggers a change in step length to maintain a ``natural'' running stride. Physical knowledge calculates the trajectory of the body for the current running step. Knowledge about limb-coordination of a running stride is utilized for establishing both, state-constraints which define the support and flight states, and phase-constraints to ``guide'' the internal joint-angle interpolation for the stance and swing phases.

The Paper

@inproceedings{BruderlinCalvert-gi96,
  title     = "Knowledge-driven, interactive animation of human running",
  author    = "Armin Bruderlin and Tom Calvert",
  booktitle = "Graphics Interface",
  year      = "1996",
  month     = "May",
  pages     = "213--221"
}