Badler, Norman I
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Publication Authoring Multi-Actor Behaviors in Crowds With Diverse Personalities(2013-01-01) Shoulson, Alexander; Kapadia, Mubbasir; Badler, Norman I; Durupinar, FundaMulti-actor simulation is critical to cinematic content creation, disaster and security simulation, and interactive entertainment. A key challenge is providing an appropriate interface for authoring high-fidelity virtual actors with featurerich control mechanisms capable of complex interactions with the environment and other actors. In this chapter, we present work that addresses the problem of behavior authoring at three levels: Individual and group interactions are conducted in an event-centric manner using parameterized behavior trees, social crowd dynamics are captured using the OCEAN personality model, and a centralized automated planner is used to enforce global narrative constraints on the scale of the entire simulation. We demonstrate the benefits and limitations of each of these approaches and propose the need for a single unifying construct capable of authoring functional, purposeful, autonomous actors which conform to a global narrative in an interactive simulation.Publication Simulated Casualties and Medics for Emergency Training(1997) Chi, Diane M; Kokkevis, Evangelos; Ogunyemi, Omolola; Bindiganavale, Ramamani; Hollick, Michael J; Webber, Bonnie L; Clarke, John R; Badler, Norman IThe MediSim system extends virtual environment technology to allow medical personnel to interact with and train on simulated casualties. The casualty model employs a three-dimensional animated human body that displays appropriate physical and behavioral responses to injury and/or treatment. Medical corpsmen behaviors were developed to allow the actions of simulated medical personnel to conform to both military practice and medical protocols during patient assessment and stabilization. A trainee may initiate medic actions through a mouse and menu interface; a VR interface has also been created by Stansfield's research group at Sandia National Labs.Publication Enhanced Collision Perception Using Tactile Feedback(2003-01-01) Bloomfield, Aaron; Badler, Norman IWe used a custom designed tactor suit to provide full body vibrotactile feedback across the human arm for the purpose of enabling users to perceive a physical sense of collisions in a virtual world. We constructed a 3-D virtual environment to test arm reach movements. We present the results of human subject trials that test the benefit of using vibrotactile feedback for this purpose. Our preliminary results presented here show a small, but distinct, advantage with the use of tactors. With additional refinements to the system, improved performance results can be obtained.Publication Design Concepts for Automating Maintenance Instructions(2000-02-01) Badler, Norman I; Erignac, Charles A; McDonald, Patrick Vincent; Sanchez, Edgar; Boyle, Edward SThis research task was performed under the Technology for Readiness and Sustainment (TRS) contract (F33615-99-D-6001) for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Sustainment Logistics Branch (HESS) at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. The period of performance spanned one year starting 29 January 1999. The objective of this task was to develop and demonstrate a framework that can support the automated validation and verification of aircraft maintenance Technical Orders (TOs). The research team examined all stages ofTO generation to determine which tasks most warranted further research. From that investigation, validation and verification of appropriate, safe, and correct procedure steps emerged as the primary research target. This process would be based on available computer-aided design (CAD) data, procedure step ordering from existing sources, and human models. This determination was based on which tasks could yield the greatest impact on the authoring process and offer the greatest potential economic benefits. The team then developed a research roadmap and outlined specific technologies to be addressed in possible subsequent Air Force research tasks. To focus on the potential technology integration of the validation and verification component into existing or future TO generation procedures, we defined a demonstration scenario. Using the Front Uplock Hook assembly from an F/A-18 as the subject, we examined task procedure steps and failures that could be exposed by automated validation tools. These included hazards to personnel, damage to equipment, and incorrect disassembly order. Using the Parameterized Action Representation (PAR) developed on previous projects for actions and equipment behaviors, we characterized procedure steps and their positive and negative consequences. Finally, we illustrated a hypothetical user interface extension to a typical Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) authoring system to demonstrate how this process might appear to the TO author.Publication TEMPUS: A System for the Design and Simulation of Human Figures in a Task-Oriented Environment(1985) Badler, Norman I; Korein, Jonathan; Korein, James U.; Radack, Gerald M.; Brotman, Lynne ShapiroA system called TEMPUS is outlined which is being developed to simulate graphically the task-oriented activities of several human agents in a three-dimensional environment. TEMPUS is a task simulation facility for the evaluation of complex workstations vis-a-vis the normal and emergency procedures they are intended to support and the types and number of individuals who must carry them out. TEMPUS allows a user to interactively: Create on or more human figures which are correctly scaled according to a specific population, or which meet certain size constraints. View the human figure in any of several graphical modes: stick figure, line or shaded polygons, or shaded BUBBLEPERSON. Position the figure in any admissible position within joint angle constraints, and with the assistance of a robotics reach positioning algorithm for limbs. Combine the figures with three-dimensional polyhedral objects derived from an existing CAD system. Create shaded graphics images of bodies in such environments. Use all TEMPUS features in an extensible and uniform user-friendly interactive system which does not require any explicitly programming knowledge. Other features of TEMPUS and differences between TEMPUS and other available body modeling systems are also discussed.Publication Structure-Based Animation of the Human Face(1991-02-01) Platt, Stephen M; Smith, Aaron T; Azuola, Francisco; Badler, Norman I; Pelachaud, CatherineThe face is an interesting object to animate for several reasons: it is an important channel of communication and therefore important to any human body animation, and it is a complex object in that it is composed of many nonrigid interacting nonarticulated regions. In this paper, we examine the face, and present it as as a hierarchically structured regionally defined object. Based on this regional decomposition, and a set of primitive actions, we describe an encoding of a large set of high level facial action descriptors. We also present an application which studies the interaction between intonation and facial expressions for a given emotion. It offers a higher level of representation of the action units by grouping them into specialized functions (lips shape for phonemes, eyebrow movements). An animation system linked to facial motion property is also presented.Publication Avatars á la Snow Crash(1998-06-08) Allbeck, Jan M; Badler, Norman IWe analyzed Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash for all references to avatars. This analysis is documented here, including a comparison of the Snow Crash avatars to the current state of real-time virtual human research. The avatar characteristics discussed include appearance, clothing and attachments, ethnicity, locomotion, body actions, forms of communication, and emotion and personality.Publication Modeling Deformable Human Arm for Constrained Research Analysis(2002-06-18) Shin, H.; Badler, Norman IWe are working on modeling a deformable human arm to improve the accuracy of constrained reach analysis. This work is a part of the project "Crew Task Simulation for Maintenance, Training, and Safety". Crewmembers are performing constrained reaches with arm and body for both intra- and extra-vehicular activity (IVA and EVA). They tolerate a certain level of tissue deformation when compressed against a solid object such as an obstacle or the joint in an extravehicular mobility unit (EMU). We have created a deformable arm segment by measuring skin indentation as a function of applied load. In order to populate the model with reasonable tissue properties we have built a simple but effective measuring device to acquire the non-linear force-depth relation from numerous sample points on an arm surface. Given an obstacle, our goal is to determine the reachable space under a certain level of tolerable contact force. We use a finite element method based on living tissue properties and the measured force-depth relations. This work will be applied to estimate the increase in reachable volume of a crewmember an EMU for EVA operation as well as for shirt-sleeved IVA operations.Publication RIVET: Rapid Interactive Visualization for Extensible Training(2006-02-05) Badler, Norman I; Allbeck, Jan; Megahed, Abe; Whitmore, MihribanThe new NASA mandate calls for missions of unprecedented remoteness and duration while human capabilities remain relatively fixed. The RIVET team (Penn, Orbitec, and NASA JSC) is to develop computer based integrated training and instruction tools that are visually intuitive, easily authorable, and adaptable to user skill level and context. The goal is to improve reliability in executing instructions by a crew with limited training, especially for critical tasks in nominal and emergency situations.Publication Motion Planning for Redundant Branching Articulated Figures with Many Degrees of Freedom(1992-07-08) Ching, Wallace S.; Badler, Norman IA fast algorithm is presented that can handle the motion planning problem for articulated figures with branches and many degrees of freedom. The algorithm breaks down the degrees of freedom of the figure into Cspace groups and compute the free motion for each of these groups in a sequential fashion. It traverses the tree in a depth first order to compute the motion for all the branches. A special playback routine is then used to traverse the tree again in a reverse order to playback the final motion. The planner runs in linear time with respect to the total number of Cspace groups without backtracking. We believe that the planner would find a path in most cases and is fast enough for practical use in a wide range of applications.