Patent ID: 6169555
Filing Date: 2001-01-02
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
A virtual puppet system for animating a character on the fly on a display based upon an input, comprising: a facial expression unit for selecting a facial expression from a predetermined set of expressions based upon the input, said facial expression unit generating a facial expression signal; a facial orientation unit for selecting an orientation of a face of the character from a predetermined set of orientations with respect to the display based upon the input, said facial orientation unit generating a facial orientation signal; an input voice analyzing unit for analyzing the input for determining an input voice signal; and an animation generation unit connected to said facial expression unit, said facial orientation unit and said input voice analyzing unit for generating an animation sequence of the character based upon said facial expression signal, said facial orientation signal and said input voice signal, said facial expression signal, said facial orientation signal, said facial expression and said input voice signal being defined as current parameters.