Interactive cartoon-style motion generation of avatar

ABSTRACT

In 3D character animation, the expressiveness of the motions is very important for the immersion and the perception in a virtual environment. Traditional animation is often superior to show this expressiveness. However, the resulting animation is typically not interactive. We present in this paper an interactive and intuitive method to add expressiveness to avatars by the exaggeration of the characters and their motions. We first use the data from a sensor holding by the user to create a parameterized order. Then this intuitive order is interpreted by the system to drive the exaggeration of the involved limbs and the deformation of the mesh of the avatar. We finally provide a post-exaggeration module adapting the resulting motion to the environment and placing the camera for an optimal perception. Experimental results show that the method can efficiently convert user’s interaction intent to expressive cartoon-style character animation.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Motion Recognition
• Cartoon Effect
• Motion Adaptation

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Ningbo Natural Science Foundation (Grant no: 2013A610064) and intelligence industry talent base of Ningbo for financial support.

ORCID

Xiubo Liang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3605-3521