David is a Ph.D. candidate in the Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Center in the College of Computing. He works in the Animation Lab at Georgia Tech. His current research includes creating dynamic simulations and developing Group Behaviors for Virtual Environments. Animated characters are needed to play the role of teachers or guides, teammates or competitors, or just to provide a source of interesting motion in virtual environments. For a virtual environment to be compelling, the characters must have a wide variety of complex and interesting behaviors and must be responsive to the actions of the user. The difficulty of constructing such synthetic characters currently hinders the development of these environments, particularly when realism is required. My research projects utilize dynamic simulations as a source of realistic character motion to improve the suitability of physically simulated characters for virtual environments.

Group Behaviors


Neither autonomous mobile robots nor their simulated counterparts in virtual environments move as quickly and adeptly as players on a basketball court, bicyclists in a race, or young children playing tag in the backyard. This project explores the capabilities of dynamic simulations that can hop or bicycle to navigate as a coordinated group around obstacles and along uneven terrain.




Dynamic Simulations in Virtual Environments



Although the presence of autonomous simulated characters adds greatly to the visual realism of a scene, we are just beginning to develop algorithms that will improve the interactive appeal of the environment by providing these synthetic actors with behaviors inspired by humans and animals. This project explores the use of high-level control algorithms to create real-time interactive environments populated with groups of dynamically simulated characters.

Journals

Brogan, D., Metoyer, R., and Hodgins, J., " Dynamically Simulated Characters in Virtual Environments," IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, September 1998, pp 58 - 69. Appeared previously as an Animation Sketch in Siggraph 1997 in Los Angeles.

Waters, R., Anderson, D., Barrus, J., Brogan, D., Casey, M., McKeown, S., Nitta, T., Sterns, I., and Yerazunis, W., "Diamond Park and Spline: Social Virtual Reality with 3D Animation, Spoken Interaction, and Runtime Extendability," Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 6:4, August, 1997, 461-481.

Brogan, D. and Hodgins, J., " Group Behaviors for Systems with Significant Dynamics." The Journal of Autonomous Robots, 4:137-153, 1997. George A. Bekey, editor.

Conferences

Hodgins, J., Wooten, W., Brogan, D., and O'Brien, J., " Animating Human Athletics", Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 1995 (Los Angeles, CA, August 6-11) 71-78.

Brogan, D. and Hodgins, J., "Group Behaviors for Systems with Significant Dynamics", 1995. Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robobts and Systems, Vol. 3, 528-534.

Hodgins, J., Brogan, D., and Wooten, W., "Realistic Motion for Animated Figures," 1994. Abstract published in Proceedings of Lifelike Computer Characters,, p. 55.

Hodgins, J. and Brogan, D., 1994. "Robot Herds: Group Behaviors for Systems with Significant Dynamics," Proceedings of Artificial Life IV, 319-324.

Videos

Group bicycle scene: "Atlanta in Motion" SIGGRAPH 1996 Electronic Theater

Commercial Demonstrations

Provided animated characters for Mitsubishi's Diamond Park booth at COMDEX 1995.

Provided multiagent simulation for Hewlett-Packard booth at SIGGRAPH 1996.

Contact Information

Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Center
College of Computing
801 Atlantic Drive
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0280


office: (404) 894-4998
email: dbrogan@cc.gatech.edu