Semantics for virtual humans

Population of Virtual Worlds with Virtual Humans is increasing rapidly by people who want to create a virtual life parallel to the real one (i.e. Second Life). The evolution of technology is smoothly providing the necessary elements to increase realism within these virtual worlds by creating believable Virtual Humans. However, creating the amount of resources needed to succeed this believability is a difficult task, mainly because of the complexity of the creation process of Virtual Humans. Even though there are many existing available resources, their reusability is difficult because there is not enough information provided to evaluate if a model contains the desired characteristics to be reused. Additionally, the knowledge involved in the creation of Virtual Humans is not well known, nor well disseminated. There are several different creation techniques, different software components, and several processes to carry out before having a Virtual Human capable of populating a virtual environment. The creation of Virtual Humans involves: a geometrical representation with an internal control structure, the motion synthesis with different animation techniques, higher level controllers and descriptors to simulate human-like behavior such individuality, cognition, interaction capabilities, etc. All these processes require the expertise from different fields of knowledge such as mathematics, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, design, etc. Furthermore, there is neither common framework nor common understanding of how elements involved in the creation, development, and interaction of Virtual Humans features are done. Therefore, there is a need for describing (1) existing resources, (2) Virtual Human's composition and features, (3) a creation pipeline and (4) the different levels/fields of knowledge comprehended. This thesis presents an explicit representation of the Virtual Humans and their features to provide a conceptual framework that will interest to all people involved in the creation and development of these characters. This dissertation focuses in a semantic description of Virtual Humans. The creation of a semantic description involves gathering related knowledge, agreement among experts in the definition of concepts, validation of the ontology design, etc. In this dissertation all these procedures are presented, and an Ontology for Virtual Humans is described in detail together with the validations that conducted to the resulted ontology. The goal of creating such ontology is to promote reusability of existing resources; to create a shared knowledge of the creation and composition of Virtual Humans; and to support new research of the fields involved in the development of believable Virtual Humans and virtual environments. Finally, this thesis presents several developments that aim to demonstrate the ontology usability and reusability. These developments serve particularly to support the research on specialized knowledge of Virtual Humans, the population of virtual environments, and improve the believability of these characters

E.T. Phone Home: Can Hollywood\u27s Big Break Include Fixing Environmental Carnage and Human Rights Violations from Co-Productions

With the continuous rise of globalization and the interconnectivity of nations, co-productions are becoming the new “hit” for movies and shows. When two or more foreign nations come together for entertainment purposes, co-productions are formed. How do these nations join forces for “movie magic?” Big brother film commissions, such as the Association of Film Commissioners International and the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production, aid in the facilitation of co-productions. While consumers are unaware of the details and fine-print behind these co-productions, watchers might be surprised to learn that more than one-third of Hollywood’s productions are being produced abroad. Although these co-productions help create authentic and eye-popping storytelling, they come at a non-economic cost. Unfortunately, countries involved in these co-productions are committing environmental and human rights violations. As co-productions become more bountiful, environmental harm comes in the wake of foreign co-productions. Countries such as Iceland, Morocco, and Thailand (commonly known for their captivating landscapes and nature) are being corroded by co-productions aftermath. As proposed in this note, the curtain has not closed quite yet. With the implantation of a new environmental monitoring position or board within film commissions overseers (such as AFCI and Council of Europe), countries and co-productions can work to form a sustainable and nature-friendly production. Another important downfall of co-productions is the human rights violations that are buried beneath the production’s glamorous surface. With varying cultures and societal values, co-productions may lend way to perpetuating filming countries’ harmful norms. In fact, some countries even force these values and twist Hollywood’s hand to film in the desired foreign location. But at what cost should human livelihoods be sidelined? This note scrutinizes some examples of co-productions that looked the other way for their “perfect shot” and exploited natives. To counteract this narrative, this note also proposes a similar integration of a humanitarian overseer(s) in co-productions in quasi-government organizations (such as AFCI). It also proposes the potential for a complete bar on co-producing with countries known to perpetually violate human rights. With these proposed initiatives in action and co-producers on the same page, only then should the “show go on.

GVSU Press Releases, 2007

A compilation of press releases for the year 2007 submitted by University Communications (formerly News & Information Services) to news agencies concerning the people, places, and events related to Grand Valley State University

Graduate and Undergraduate Catalog, 2011-2012

Eastern Washington University\u27s course catalog for the 2011-2012 academic year.https://dc.ewu.edu/catalogs/1004/thumbnail.jp

Graduate and Undergraduate Catalog, 2014-2015

Eastern Washington University\u27s course catalog for the 2014-2015 academic year.https://dc.ewu.edu/catalogs/1001/thumbnail.jp

Graduate and Undergraduate Catalog, 2012-2013

Eastern Washington University\u27s course catalog for the 2012-2013 academic year.https://dc.ewu.edu/catalogs/1003/thumbnail.jp

2023, UMaine News Press Releases

This is a catalog of press releases put out by the University of Maine Division of Marketing and Communications between January 3, 2023 and November 1, 2023