User defined characteristics for inheritance based avatar generation
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- selecting a first physical characteristic;
providing a first avatar with the selected first physical characteristic, the first avatar having a plurality of physical characteristics;
selecting a second physical characteristic;
providing a second avatar with the selected second physical characteristic, the second avatar having a plurality of physical characteristics;
generating a new avatar, the new avatar generated by combining at least the selected physical characteristics of the first and second avatars; and
storing the new avatar on a computer readable storage medium.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The generation of characters within computer animations is currently a labor intensive and expensive activity for a wide range of businesses. Whereas prior art approaches have sought to reduce this loading by providing reference avatars, these do not fundamentally overcome the intensive steps in generating these reference avatars, and they provide limited variations. According to the invention a user is provided with a method for establishing the physical characteristics of an avatar by using a process based upon inheritance. The inheritance based avatar generator allows, for example, the user to select a first generation of four grandparents based upon selected characteristics, the generator thereupon determining the physical characteristics of a second generation, being the parents of the final avatar, and then determining the physical characteristics of the third generation off-spring. Accordingly the invention provides animators with a means of rapidly generating avatars from a pool of previously generated avatars.
43 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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selecting a first physical characteristic; providing a first avatar with the selected first physical characteristic, the first avatar having a plurality of physical characteristics; selecting a second physical characteristic; providing a second avatar with the selected second physical characteristic, the second avatar having a plurality of physical characteristics; generating a new avatar, the new avatar generated by combining at least the selected physical characteristics of the first and second avatars; and storing the new avatar on a computer readable storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method comprising:
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providing a virtual environment, the virtual environment supporting a plurality of avatars associated with a plurality of users, each avatar having a plurality of physical characteristics; providing within the virtual environment an ability for at least two avatars to have an off-spring; selecting a first physical characteristic of at least one of the at least two avatars; selecting a second physical characteristic of at least one of the at least two avatars; generating a new avatar, the new avatar generated by combining the first and second physical characteristics of the at least two avatars; and storing the new avatar on a computer readable storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A method comprising;
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(a) providing a current generation of avatars, the current generation of avatars selected from a plurality of avatars, each avatar having a plurality of physical characteristics; (b) selecting a first physical characteristic of at least one of the current generation of avatars and selecting a second physical characteristic of at least another one of the current generation of avatars; (c) executing an inheritance based avatar generator process, the inheritance based avatar generator process generating a next generation avatar, the next generation avatar generated by combining the first and second physical characteristics of the current generation of avatars; and (d) at least one of storing the next generation avatar on a computer readable storage medium and displaying a simulated physical appearance of the avatar to a user. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification