We did
this prototype for Imagina 2004 that is held every year in Monaco:
In this era of video games and 3d computer graphics characters, people
are used to interacting with computer-generated personalities. Although
these characters are quite realistic in their movements and behaviors,
the interactivity they offer to a user has so far been very one-dimensional
and simplistic. Characters in video games and 3D computer graphics
do not offer the same emotional connection we have to real humans.
The aim of the Evocative Portrait project is to advance the state
of the art by offering a more open-ended engaging interaction with
a character.
A picture frame displays a black-and-white picture of a person. When
a viewer approaches this portrait, the character in the portrait starts
interacting with the viewer.
The character portrayed in the portrait is "believable"
in the same sense that characters in non-interactive media are (characters
in theater, books and movies), but in addition the character can be
highly interactive and the viewer-character interactivity can be quite
complex. This research is the first step of creating a character that
will have a wide range of behaviors and an underlying cognitive architecture
that will allow it to have moods, to remember people and previous
interactions, all of which will contribute to its complex, believable
behavior. January 2004.
