Open Competition 1 - Information Technology

Advanced Interactive Characters

Sponsor: Zoesis, Inc.

• Project Performance Period: 11/1/2002 - 6/30/2005
• Total project (est.): $2,739,745.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,000,000.00

Animated characters are valuable assets in education and training movies, cartoons, and advertising and are a leading U.S. export. Interactive characters are used not just in computer games and online advertising, but for educational systems, human-computer interfaces, and simulation and training systems. However, their capabilities and personalities remain too limited for mass market appeal. Zoesis Inc. plans a project to develop, integrate, and test new language processing, artificial intelligence, and graphics capabilities for richer interactive characters -- characters that are expressive and appear to be intelligent and understanding of the human viewer/user. The company will build on artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed at Carnegie Mellon University to enrich characters' simulated minds, bodies, and speech -- an artistic challenge in creating believability, feeling, and impact as opposed to a more conventional scientific exercise aimed at developing accurate models. The ATP funding is needed because the research deals with difficult, unsolved problems in AI, speech, and computer graphics, and entails a high level of technical risk that private investors are reluctant to accept. ATP support will enable Zoesis to develop authoring tools that can be disseminated broadly. If successfully developed, the new technologies could be used to bring new and existing characters "to life" and make it possible to realize a substantially larger percentage of economically important applications for interactive characters than are now possible. The project could lead to better simulation tools for use in industrial, military, and educational contexts; greater productivity in sales and advertising; and more realistic games and interactive user interfaces, potentially leading to new markets.

For project information:

Bryan Loyall, (617) 969-2394
bryan@zoesis.com

ATP Project Manager

Barbara Cuthill, (301) 975-3273
barbara.cuthill@nist.gov