Generation and manipulation of H-Anim CAESAR scan bodies

ABSTRACT

In this paper we present a procedure to create animated human models, compliant with the H-Anim standard, from 3D CAESAR scan bodies, which were captured using a whole body scan device. We also present a VRML prototype of an "Animated CAESAR Viewer" to view and manipulate the generated CAESAR body animations interactively on the Web. The animated body model follows the H-Anim skinned body geometry specification. The vertex blending method has been used for smoother skin deformations. The model can be integrated with motion capture data. Although the process to generate an H-Anim body involves several different techniques, the discussion is focused on the methods of creating segments and assigning vertex weights. The Viewer provides the functions for a user to explore the components of the digital human model, to adjust the joint locations, to make body postures with a direct kinematics method, and control the animation using VCR-like controls. The aim of the Viewer is to help digital human modelers create more realistic postures and motion sequences intuitively.

REFERENCES

• 1: Fabio Buttussi , Luca Chittaro , Daniele Nadalutti, H-animator: a visual tool for modeling, reuse and sharing of X3D humanoid animations, Proceedings of the eleventh international conference on 3D web technology, April 18-21, 2006, Columbia, Maryland [doi>10.1145/1122591.1122606]
• 2: Tamal K. Dey , Samrat Goswami, Tight cocone: a water-tight surface reconstructor, Proceedings of the eighth ACM symposium on Solid modeling and applications, June 16-20, 2003, Seattle, Washington, USA [doi>10.1145/781606.781627]
• 3: Michael Garland , Paul S. Heckbert, Simplifying surfaces with color and texture using quadric error metrics, Proceedings of the conference on Visualization '98, p.263-269, October 18-23, 1998, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States
• 4: Garland, M. 1999. http://graphics.cs.uiuc.edu/~garland/software/qslim20.html
• 5: Humanoid Animation Working Group, 2004. http://www.hanim.org
• 6: Stanford University, 2005. http://graphics.stanford.edu/software/volfill/
• 7: Oliveira, J., Zhang, D., Spanalang, B. 2003. Animating Scanned Human Models, Journal of WSCG, Vol. 11, No. 1.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.1 Systems and Information Theory

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.1 Multimedia Information Systems
          Subjects: Animations; Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
        I.2.10 Vision and Scene Understanding
            Subjects: 3D/stereo scene analysis

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design

Keywords:
3D animation, 3D scan, CAESAR, H-Anim, VRML