About the Project
The goal of this project is to perform research into the development of revolutionary new controllers for the simulation of virtual characters. By applying contemporary advances in our understanding of locomotion dynamics and control, the student will create a viable controller for character locomotion. By viable we mean compatible with existing game engines in terms of performance and implementation constraints, and that qualitatively it is visually indistinguishable from real human motion.
Contemporary advances in our understanding of human locomotion in diverse fields such as motor control, robotics and neuroscience have broadened our understanding of how humans move, the level of cognitive involvement and our ability to adapt to environmental changes. In our previous work we proposed that the dynamics of locomotion define a repeated pattern or motion primitive which is transformed by a symmetry preserving controller to achieve adaptation to environmental changes, such as walking up stairs. These principles have far-reaching implications in the fields of robotics and gait analysis, providing a method for energy efficient controller design, or a model to analyse the motion adaptation of, for example, patients recovering from stroke. This project seeks to apply these principles to the design of game controllers which are natural looking due to its biological underpinnings, while being efficient enough to include in the contemporary computer game pipeline.
The candidate will be expected to:
1. to perform research into the development of a game controller using biological principles,
2. to implement a viable, high performance game controller for character locomotion using these principles,
3. to evaluate this controller against existing methods for character animation in terms of the evaluation criteria of performance, animation quality and viability.
A student undertaking this project could originate from a rigorous computing discipline, incorporating a strong mathematical background. Some background in mechanics and engineering would be beneficial, in addition to experience in the field of character animation controllers for Computer Games. As a direct result of this research work, a successful candidate would receive valuable experience and training in the following areas:
• The mathematics of motion, in particular the topology of passive dynamic models and Lie group theory.
• The dynamics of natural human motion, and the process of capture and analysis of human motion.
• Mathematical and modelling tools required for analysis and synthesis.
• Computer animation tools for generating the final results.
In addition, a student in our group would benefit from the developmental opportunities afforded to them by being a part of the Centre for Digital Entertainment and the CVGRG research group:
• Conference attendance, and the presentation of his/her work in front of a group of peers.
• The development of industrial and academic contacts through the CDE network through seminars and the CDE conferences.
• Frequent academic and industrial seminars and academic reading groups which help develop his/her exposure to other academic or industrial topics of interest.
• Extensive support in journal and conference publication preparation.
• Support and assistance in early researcher career development and grant preparation
Funding Notes
An honours degree at Upper Second Class (2:1) and/or an appropriate Masters degree. An IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 minimum (or equivalent) is essential for candidates for whom English is not their first language.
The student could come from a computing discipline with a mathematical background. Experience in mechanics, engineering and character animation controllers for Computer Games would be beneficial. Applicants must have a degree in Computer Science, relevant Engineering discipline (Mechanical or Electrical) or equivalent; Experience with Software Engineering, especially in Games or Film will be advantageous; Experience with Robotics and Character Animation will also be relevant.