Handbook of Virtual Humans [Hardcover]

Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann (Editor), Daniel Thalmann (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470023163 | ISBN-13: 978-0470023167 | Publication Date: November 22, 2004 | Edition: 1

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Virtual Humans simulations are becoming increasingly popular and many systems are now available to animate Virtual Humans. Such systems encompass several different domains including autonomous agents in virtual environments, human factors analysis, training, education, virtual prototyping, simulation-based design and entertainment.

At the moment Virtual Humans are most commonly used in the entertainment industry and specifically in movies and video games. However, there are many current and potential applications of human activities that may be part of a system involving Virtual Humans in a wide range of areas including simulation, emergency situations, medical applications and engineering.

• Covers all aspects of Virtual Humans
• Explains the concept of avatars and autonomous virtual actors and the main techniques to create and animate their bodies and faces
• Presents the concepts of behavioral 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 and a platform for real-time simulation

Written by leading experts in the area, the Handbook of Virtual Humans covers the basic principles through to state-of-the-art and advanced concepts in this exciting field. Engineers, researchers and developers in computer graphics, computer animation, virtual reality and game development will all find this reference indispensable.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 468 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470023163
• ISBN-13: 978-0470023167
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,810,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many chefs spoil the dish, February 9, 2008

By 

AW (MI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Handbook of Virtual Humans (Hardcover)

Each chapter of the book is written by a different group of authors. Although authors themselves are respectable researchers in the field, this one more looks like a collection of papers rather than a "book". Also not all of them are good writers, so some of the chapters are extremely boring. Few concepts are just not explained to the level of detail I would have liked...in short this book gives you a "high-level" view. And at least I would not be able to implement any system explained without making my own assumptions. Of course, I should accept that I am not a master of this subject (but then isn't that the reason I am buying this book ?)
I will not recommend this book at its given price. Makes no sense to spend $175 on this