Events - Colloquia & Seminars

CCIS Colloquium Summer 2006

Data-Driven Motion Generation

Speaker: Ron Metoyer

Affiliation: Oregon State University

Date: Thursday, August 3, 2006

Talk: 12:00 pm, 366 WVH

Abstract

Data-Driven motion generation is a technique for creating animated motion given a library of motion data such as that obtained with motion capture equipment. Motion that is generated in this way is generally compelling because it contains the unique and subtle qualities of human motion that are difficult to generate procedurally. However, controlling the motion to achieve a specific task is often difficult.

We record motion sequences of an actor performing various tasks relevant to the application at hand. We then build a 'pose-graph' that can be searched offline or pre-processed further to generate spatially controlled motion in real time.

We have used this approach for creating controllable 3D character locomotion as well as for building 2D motion models for use in pedestrian simulations. In this talk, I will present our approach for building these real-time motion graphs, discuss its limitations, and demonstrate performance through several video sequences. I will conclude with a short discussion of future work in this area.

Biography

Asst. Prof. Ron Metoyer joined the computer science department at Oregon State University in the fall of 2001 with a Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology where he worked in the Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center. His dissertation research involved modeling and visualizing the motion of pedestrians in urban and architectural scenes. Currently, Dr. Metoyer runs the Graphics and Imaging Technologies Lab (GAIT) along with his colleagues, Dr. Eric Mortensen, Dr. Eugene Zhange, and Dr. Mike Bailey. He and his students conduct research in creating interactive content for training and education. Research projects range from the development of believable character motion generation algorithms to the development of interfaces for novice users to create and interact with 3D content. One testbed application is the digital football playbook for coaches and football players to use as a training and visualization tool. His work is funded by an NSF CAREER award entitled, "Understanding the Complexities of Animated Content".