UNC-Chapel Hill, Animatronic Avatar Demo at ISMAR 2009

At ISMAR 2009 (Orlando, FL) we introduced a new approach for robotic avatars of real people: the use of cameras and projectors to capture and map the dynamic motion and appearance of a real person onto a humanoid animatronic model. We call these devices animatronic Shader Lamps Avatars (SLA). At the conference we presented a proof-of-concept prototype comprised of a camera, a tracking system, a digital projector, and a life-sized styrofoam head mounted on a pan-tilt unit. The system captures imagery of a moving, talking user and maps the appearance and motion onto the animatronic SLA, delivering a dynamic, real-time representation of the user to multiple viewers. This video shows a demonstration that we presented at ISMAR, including some interactions with conference attendees. (The video includes interviews with Prof. Greg Welch and Prof. Henry Fuchs, and the Avatar is inhabited by professional comedian Brian Bradley.)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• virtual reality
• augmented reality
• computer graphics
• avatar
• robot
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