22C:296 Human Computer Interaction - Example Definition of Specialty Area
My specialty project will investigate
autonomous pedestrian behavior for virtual environments.
This research concentrates on methods to program the behaviors of
articulated human figures in virtual environments.
The goal of this work is to create plausible movements
for synthetic pedestrians traveling alone and in groups.
There is a large body of research on the generation and control
of human locomotion from the perspectives of animation, robots,
and biomechanics. Most of this work concentrates on the kinematics
and dynamics of walking and on control laws to synthesize
coordinated movement of many jointed articulated bodies.
A second, smaller body of work has examined higher-level decision making
and control of movement behavior in complex environments.
One central thread of this work is the interactions among individuals and
emergent group behavior.
For the most part, this behavior-centered research assumes very simple
movement models (typically a single rigid body under kinematic control.)
I will concentrate my effort in this second area sometimes called
"steering" behavior.
One of the central problems in this research is
Action Selection.
Action selection refers to process of deciding
what action to take at any moment.
There is wide variance in the mechanisms
by which information about multiple constraints on behavior
is integrated to determine the most appropriate action.
In fact, the meaning of action varies considerably from
low level control actuators (e.g. apply a force or acceleration) to
high level commands (e.g. throw the ball).
A key issue in action selection is the strategy for discovering
the best action to take at any moment. Some systems prioritize goals
and let the highest priority goal determine which action is take.
In contrast, other researchers have
emphasized the importance of compromise solutions --
actions that best satisfy the entire set of constraints on behavior.
In my paper I will examine and contrast
different approaches to finding actions
that best satisfy the concurrent demands on behavior and how
these are applied to pedestrian behavior.
A few of the most important papers in this area include ...