In this book, various aspects of cognitive and emotional behaviour is described. In chapter one, a state of the art introduction to VH is presented and the associated research is given. In Chapter 2, cognitive and emotions processes are described. A Comprehensive context model for multi-party interactions with the VH is given in the next chapter. Finally, it is very important to model the socializing of groups of virtual humans. This is discussed in Chapter 4. The automatic modelling of expressions for VH is described in Chapter 5. The last chapter gives a case study of an intelligent kios avatar and its usability. This book gives examples of some advances that enable VH to behave intelligently. It provides an overview of these research problems and some unsolved problems.

Virtual Humans provides a much-needed definition of what constitutes a ‘virtual human’ and places virtual humans within the wider context of Artificial Intelligence development. It explores the technical approaches to creating a virtual human, as well as emergent issues such as embodiment, identity, agency and digital immortality, and the resulting ethical challenges. The book presents an overview of current research and practice in this area, and outlines the major challenges faced by today’s developers and researchers. The book examines the possibility for using virtual humans in a variety of roles, from personal assistants to teaching, coaching and knowledge management, and the book situates these discussions around familiar applications (e.g. Siri, Cortana, Alexa) and the portrayal of virtual humans within Science Fiction. Features Presents a comprehensive overview of this rapidly developing field Provides an array of relevant, real-life examples from expert practitioners and researchers from around the globe in how to create the avatar body, mind, senses and ability to communicate Intends to be broad in scope yet practical in approach, so that it can serve the needs of several different audiences, including researchers, teachers, developers and anyone with an interest in where these technologies might take us Covers a wide variety of issues which have been neglected in other research texts; for example, definitions and taxonomies, the ethical challenges of virtual humans and issues around digital immortality Includes numerous examples and extensive references

Virtual Humans are becoming more and more popular and used in many applications such as the entertainment industry (in both film and games) and medical applications. This comprehensive book covers all areas of this growing industry including face and body motion, body modelling, hair simulation, expressive speech simulation and facial communication, interaction with 3D objects, rendering skin and clothes and the standards for Virtual Humans. Written by a team of current and former researchers at MIRALab, University of Geneva or VRlab, EPFL, this book is the definitive guide to the area. Explains the concept of avatars and autonomous virtual actors and the main techniques to create and animate them (body and face). Presents the concepts of behavioural animation, crowd simulation, intercommunication between virtual humans, and interaction between real humans and autonomous virtual humans Addresses the advanced topics of hair representation and cloth animation with applications in fashion design Discusses the standards for Virtual Humans, such as MPEG-4 Face Animation and MPEG-4 Body Animation.

This book presents a survey of past and recent developments on human walking in virtual environments with an emphasis on human self-motion perception, the multisensory nature of experiences of walking, conceptual design approaches, current technologies, and applications. The use of Virtual Reality and movement simulation systems is becoming increasingly popular and more accessible to a wide variety of research fields and applications. While, in the past, simulation technologies have focused on developing realistic, interactive visual environments, it is becoming increasingly obvious that our everyday interactions are highly multisensory. Therefore, investigators are beginning to understand the critical importance of developing and validating locomotor interfaces that can allow for realistic, natural behaviours. The book aims to present an overview of what is currently understood about human perception and performance when moving in virtual environments and to situate it relative to the broader scientific and engineering literature on human locomotion and locomotion interfaces. The contents include scientific background and recent empirical findings related to biomechanics, self-motion perception, and physical interactions. The book also discusses conceptual approaches to multimodal sensing, display systems, and interaction for walking in real and virtual environments. Finally, it will present current and emerging applications in areas such as gait and posture rehabilitation, gaming, sports, and architectural design.

A beyond human knowledge and reach, robotics is strongly involved in tackling challenges of new emerging multidisciplinary fields. Together with humans, robots are busy exploring and working on the new generation of ideas and problems whose solution is otherwise impossible to find. The future is near when robots will sense, smell and touch people and their lives. Behind this practical aspect of human-robotics, there is a half a century spanned robotics research, which transformed robotics into a modern science. The Advances in Robotics and Virtual Reality is a compilation of emerging application areas of robotics. The book covers robotics role in medicine, space exploration and also explains the role of virtual reality as a non-destructive test bed which constitutes a premise of further advances towards new challenges in robotics. This book, edited by two famous scientists with the support of an outstanding team of fifteen authors, is a well suited reference for robotics researchers and scholars from related disciplines such as computer graphics, virtual simulation, surgery, biomechanics and neuroscience.

Within the last few years, devices that are increasingly capable of offering an immersive experience close to reality have emerged. As devices decrease in size, the interest and application possibilities for them increase. In the healthcare sector, there is an enormous potential for virtual reality development, as this technology allows, on the one hand, the execution of operations or processes at a distance, decoupling realities; and on the other hand, it offers the possibility of simulation for training purposes, whenever there are contexts of risk to the patient or to the health professional. However, virtual reality devices and immersion in virtual environments still requires some improvement as complaints such as headaches and nausea are still common among users, and so continuous research and development is critical to progress the technology. Emerging Advancements for Virtual and Augmented Reality in Healthcare synthesizes the trends, best practices, methodologies, languages, and tools used to implement virtual reality and create a positive user experience while also discussing how to implement virtual reality into day-to-day work with a focus on healthcare professionals and related areas. The application possibilities and their impact are transversal to all areas of health and fields such as education, training, surgery, pain management, physical rehabilitation, stroke rehabilitation, phobia therapy, and telemedicine. Covering topics such as mental health treatment and virtual simulations, it is ideal for medical professionals, engineers, computer scientists, researchers, practitioners, managers, academicians, teachers, and students.

Despite widespread interest in virtual reality, research and development efforts in synthetic environments (SE)â€"the field encompassing virtual environments, teleoperation, and hybridsâ€"have remained fragmented. Virtual Reality is the first integrated treatment of the topic, presenting current knowledge along with thought-provoking vignettes about a future where SE is commonplace. This volume discusses all aspects of creating a system that will allow human operators to see, hear, smell, taste, move about, give commands, respond to conditions, and manipulate objects effectively in a real or virtual environment. The committee of computer scientists, engineers, and psychologists on the leading edge of SE development explores the potential applications of SE in the areas of manufacturing, medicine, education, training, scientific visualization, and teleoperation in hazardous environments. The committee also offers recommendations for development of improved SE technology, needed studies of human behavior and evaluation of SE systems, and government policy and infrastructure.