Animations may be keyframe, motion capture or real-time inverse kinematics. Once the applet and basic motions have been downloaded, the characters can be animated by a straightforward API or by simple text commands. By using this standard, we are able to develop animations once, and apply them to numerous models. The most exciting role for our characters is as Signing Avatar 3D communicators, shown in Figure 1, who help deaf children learn to sign and to read. Hearing children are immersed in language, which they learn from television, radio and voice-enabled software, as well as from their families.
Language is delayed for most deaf children because concepts and information are inaccessible.
Signing Avatar characters expose deaf children to language and offer new opportunities for anyone to learn to sign. Each character can form more than 800 signs and has more than 20 facial expressions. Signing Avatars are modeled in VRML 97 and run best in accelerated VRML viewers such as blaxxun s Contact 4.3. However, many elements of our character animation technology have been adapted for Java-only viewers, such as blaxxun3D. Navigation and interactivity are provided by our lightweight character animation applet, and can be tailored for games, comics and emailable greeting cards. Our Vcomix allow the user to match wits with the characters and, perhaps, determine their fate.