CHAINING ANIMATIONS

• US 20100238182A1
• Filed: 03/20/2009
• Published: 09/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Geisner, Kevin, Markovic, Relja, Snook, Gregory Nelson, Latta, Stephen Gilchrist
• Granted Patent: US 8,988,437 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/474
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/00 Animation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training

Abstract

In applications that display a representation of a user, it may be reasonable to insert a pre-canned animation rather than animating a user'"'"'s captured motion. For example, in a tennis swing, the ball toss and take back in a serve could be a pre-canned animation, whereas the actual forward swing may be mapped from the user'"'"'s gestures. An animation of a user'"'"'s gestures can be chained together into sequences with pre-canned animations, where animation blending techniques can provide for a smoother transition between the animation types. Techniques for blending animations, that may comprise determining boundaries and transition points between pre-canned animations and animations based on captured motion, may improve animation efficiency. Gesture history, including joint position, velocity, and acceleration, can be used to determine user intent, seed parameters for subsequent animations and game control, and determine the subsequent gestures to initiate.

Claims

1. A method for chaining animations, the method comprising:

receiving image data from a capture device that is representative of captured motion;

selecting a pre-canned animation;

chaining an animation of the captured motion and the pre-canned animation.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein chaining the animation of the captured motion and the pre-canned animation comprises blending the animation of the captured motion to an animation of the pre-canned animation or blending the pre-canned animation to the animation of the captured motion.

3. The method in accordance with claim 2, wherein selecting a pre-canned animation comprises selecting a pre-canned animation from a plurality of pre-canned animations.

4. The method in accordance with claim 2, wherein chaining the animation of the captured motion and the pre-canned animation comprises blending parameters of the captured motion to at least one of initial parameters of the pre-canned animation or ending parameters of the pre-canned animation.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising identifying at least one parameter that is indicative of a transition point, wherein satisfying the at least one parameter triggers the chaining of the captured motion and the pre-canned animation.

6. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising modifying the parameters of the pre-canned animation in response to history data associated with a user.

7. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising selecting multiple pre-canned animations and blending the multiple pre-canned animations to generate a new pre-canned animation, and selecting the new pre-canned animation for chaining with the animation of the captured motion.

8. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein a parameter of the transition point is set based on at least one of an application type, a user skill, a gesture history, a gesture difficulty, a gesture redundancy, an environment context, or a cultural context.

9. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein an amount of blending used to blend the animation of the captured motion to the animation of the pre-canned animation corresponds to a level of success in an application.

10. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising instructions for predicting an intent of the captured motion, wherein the pre-canned animation is selected based on the predicted intent.

11. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the captured motion is live motion of a target in a physical space captured by the capture device.

12. A method for chaining animations, the method comprising:

receiving image data from a capture device that is representative of a user'"'"'s gesture;

selecting a pre-canned animation;

chaining an animation of the gesture and the pre-canned animation.

13. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the user'"'"'s gesture is a gesture applicable to a game.

14. The method in accordance with claim 12, further comprising displaying the chained animation of the gesture animation and the pre-canned animation.

15. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein selecting a pre-canned animation comprises selecting a pre-canned animation from a plurality of pre-canned animations.

16. The method in accordance with claim 12, further comprising selecting multiple pre-canned animations and blending the multiple pre-canned animations to generate a new pre-canned animation, and selecting the new pre-canned animation for chaining with the animation of the captured motion.

17. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein chaining the gesture animation and the pre-canned animation comprises chaining the gesture animation to the pre-canned animation or chaining the pre-canned animation to the gesture animation.

18. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein chaining the gesture animation and the animation of the pre-canned animation comprises chaining parameters of the gesture animation at the transition point to at least one of initial parameters of the pre-canned animation or ending parameters of the pre-canned animation.

19. The method in accordance with claim 12, further comprising instructions for identifying at least one parameter that is indicative of the transition point, wherein satisfying the at least one parameter triggers the chaining of the gesture animation and the pre-canned animation.

20. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein a parameter of the transition point is set based on at least one of an application type, a user skill, a gesture history, a gesture difficulty, a gesture redundancy, an environment context, or a cultural context.

21. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein an amount of blending required to chain the animation of the gesture and the animation of the pre-canned animation corresponds to a level of success in an application.

22. The method in accordance with claim 12, further comprising instructions for predicting an intent of the gesture, wherein the pre-canned animation is selected based on the predicted intent.

23. A device for animation blending, the device comprising:

a capture device component, wherein the capture device component receives image data that is representative of captured motion;

a processor, wherein the processor executes computer executable instructions, and wherein the computer executable instructions comprise instructions for;

selecting a pre-canned animation;

at a transition point, blending an animation of the live motion and the pre-canned animation.

24. The device in accordance with claim 23, wherein blending the animation of the gesture and the pre-canned animation comprises blending the animation of the gesture to an animation of the pre-canned animation or blending the pre-canned animation to the animation of the gesture.

25. The device in accordance with claim 23, further comprising a display device for displaying the blended animation of the chained gesture and pre-canned animation.

26. The device in accordance with claim 25, further comprising identifying at least one parameter that is indicative of the transition point, wherein satisfying the at least one parameter triggers the blending of the gesture to the pre-canned animation.

27. The device in accordance with claim 23, wherein the captured motion is live motion of a target in a physical space captured by the capture device.