Realistic animation of human figures using artificial neural networks

We describe a new approach to the animation of human figures which can produce realistic animation and based on artificial neural networks (ANN). A fully connected ANN is trained with inputs and outputs of key frames obtained from image analysis and key postures and parameters of standing, walking and running. A behaviour index is introduced as an input to the ANN. Each index is unique to each behaviour. Other inputs include speed, cycle history and subsystem index. The subsystem index refers to the different subsystem of the human figure e.g. the right leg is a subsystem referred to by an index. The outputs are the joints displacements. The ANN is trained using the back propagation method. The ANN was able to generate realistic animations of walking and running and could merge three different behaviours, standing, walking and running. The proposed method should enable design evaluations, human factors analysis, task simulation and motion understanding easier for non-animation experts.