Meeting another person is one of the most amazing experiences you can have in Virtual Reality. It is quite unlike communicating through any other medium except a real life face-to-face conversation. Because the other person is life size and shares a virtual space with you, body language works in a way that cannot be done on a flat screen. This course will enable you to create realistic social interactions in VR. You will learn about both the psychology of social interaction and the practical skills to implement it in Unity3D. We will take you through the basics of 3D character animation and how to create body language. You will learn about how to make characters that can respond to players’ speech and body language. You will also learn about avatars: the virtual representation of other players, and agents: computer controlled NPC characters and how to implement both of them. As many people have said before us, social is the future of VR. This course will help you become part of the future of Virtual Reality social experiences.
Applications of Virtual Characters
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En provenance du cours de University of London
Building Interactive 3D Characters and Social VR
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À partir de la leçon
Introduction to Virtual Characters
In this module you will start to learn about the role of human-like characters in VR. Characters can represent other real people: avatars, or they can be computer controlled: agents. Either way they are the very foundation of social interaction in VR.
Rencontrer les enseignants
Dr Sylvia Xueni PanLecturer, Department of Computing
Goldsmiths, University of London
Dr Marco GilliesSenior Lecturer
Computing Department, Goldsmiths, University of London
[MUSIC]
In real life we spend a lot of time interacting with other people.
In virtual reality we interact with virtual characters instead.
The character can be a avatar, a representation of another real person,
or an agent, a character driven by computer algorithms.
But actually, as the ability for computers to generate socially
meaningful human-like behaviors is still fairly limited, and for
certain applications human expertise is still needed.
Sometimes the virtual character can be a mixture of an avatar and agent.
Here I'll use some examples of work I have done in the past to show you how we
designed and implemented those virtual characters.
And how they played a critical part in those applications.
I will show you two applications.
Psychotherapy for social anxiety and training for medical doctors.
Let's start with psychotherapy for social anxiety.
People who are too anxious in social interactions
tend to avoid social encounters whenever possible.
But by doing so, they're also missing out
good opportunities to practice their social skills.
And the less they practice, the more anxious they become.
So they found themself in this vicious cycle.
A way to bring them out of this is for
them to practice social interactions with a virtual character.
So they can expose themselves to the anxiety in a risk-free and
controlled environment where they can safely practice their social skills.
We can also design the environment to be a very positive experience.
So it's easier for them to get started and gradually
will increase the difficulties when they are confident with the current level.
So here is what we did in 2005.
This is how the interaction between Christina and our participant started.
Hi, it looks like we are the only people alone here, right?
>> Yes, it does.
>> My name is Christina.
>> Hi- >> What's your name?
>> My name is [BLEEP].
>> Very nice to meet you.
>> Same to you.
>> So what are you doing for a living?
>> I'm currently a student at the moment.
I'm doing a degree in London.
>> Very interesting!
Tell me more.
>> I'm a second-year student studying [BLEEP].
>> Later, this is when the interaction becomes a bit personal.
>> I feel a bit shy about talking with other people.
Do you mind if I talk with you for a bit longer?
>> No, not at all.
>> If you don't mind me saying, you look very nice.
>> Thank you.
>> I was wondering actually, are you single or
involved with someone at this time?
>> I'm kind of single.
>> Actually it is the same with me.
Anyway, what are you doing after this party.
>> I don't really have any plans.
>> All right, I see.
>> When implementing this application, we prepared a database of short animations,
including facial animation, lip-sync, and body animation.
Each short animation also had a audio clip attached.
An experimenter was listening to the conversation in real time
to select the appropriate response to trigger.
So in this sense, Christina is the avatar of the experimenter.
However, there were also other things going on.
She maintained eye contact with the participant and
looked away every now and then, just like we do in real life.
She also kept a fixed interpersonal distance with the participants.
And moved closer to the participant in the second half
when a conversation became more personal.
Both of these two features were driven by computer algorithms.
So, in this sense, Christina is an agent.
Overall, most participants found the whole interaction very realistic and pleasant.
Even participants who were quite shy had a nice time and enjoyed themselves,
which was exactly what this application was meant for.
The second application I'd like to show you is implemented with
a similar method, but this time it is designed medical doctors.
Before I show you the video, here is some background.
In some countries in the world, you will need a prescription for antibiotics.
This is because antibiotics are not always good for our health and
overuse of them is leading to the growth of superbugs.
Bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.
If this trend continues, in the near future antibiotics will stop being
effective, and we risk going back to the pre-antibiotics era
where everyday infection will become untreatable and potentially fatal.
So United Kingdom is one of the countries where you will need a prescription for
antibiotics.
And medical doctors here have the responsibility
to only prescribe them to those who really need them.
But it is often easier said than done.
As sometimes it is hard to argue with patients who think they know the best for
themselves.
Medical doctors are often pressed to prescribe antibiotics to those who
do not really need them.
So using a similar method as we did previously, we developed an application
in virtual reality to help medical doctors to practice their communication skills
in dealing with unreasonable demands from patients.
Here is what we did.
>> Hi, hello, I'm Doctor Gardner.
I don't think we've met before, hello.
>> Hello Doctor, I am glad that finally we get to see you!
We've been waiting for an hour!
We really need to get it sorted as soon as possible.
My mother cannot see very well so I had to drive her here.
We are going away for a couple of days for a wedding in France tonight so
we're in a bit of a rush!
>> Right, okay.
>> What can I help you with this morning?
>> Yes, yes, I'm feeling okay, but
since a couple of days ago I starting having a bit of sore throat.
This morning, I developed this cough.
>> Okay, and prior to this morning, how were you feeling?
>> I feel okay most of the time, but this cough.
>> Okay.
>> My mother had exactly the same thing last year.
It started just like this, a couple of days of sore throat, then a cough.
But then she became really very ill with a high temperature fever.
I had to take a day off work to take her to the hospital.
They gave her antibiotics and she immediately got better!
So all she needs is some antibiotics this time!
>> Okay, I hear what you're saying.
But what we often see is, with this kind of illness,
things settle down by themselves in the most case.
It sounds like you had a bad experience last time.
But I think it would be worth trying some simple treatments like painkillers and
some fluids and some rest first.
>> I've just asked your daughter if she knows about whether you've been coughing
up any phlegm or not.
Do you know- >> Why do we need to wait until things
get worse?
Her immune system is not very strong, as you can see.
There's no point to let her suffer through this.
All we need is some antibiotics.
>> Sure, no I understand that, and
the reason I'm asking these extra questions, and I know you're in a hurry.
But the reason I'm asking these questions is because actually very often a cough
is caused by a virus rather than a bacteria.
>> Even if it is just a virus,
isn't it better that we give her some antibiotics to help her immune system?
>> Well, unfortunately, that's not how antibiotics work.
They don't boost the immune system, they- >> Please,
can you give us the antibiotic prescription now and
we will only use it if things get worse?
>> As I say, I don't think that's necessary right now.
Sometimes we can do delayed prescriptions, but I've examined your mom right now and
she looks fine to me, and I think this is a virus.
>> Doctor, maybe you can give us the prescription,
but we will only collect it if my mum gets worse.
>> Okay, it seems like that's something that you're both absolutely fixed on
having.
We can arrange for a prescription that you can pick up tomorrow or
the next day if things are getting worse.
>> [INAUDIBLE] I do not think that there is-
>> This is so
unfair, it's going to ruin our holiday.
I'm going to take this up to the local health authority.
I think you are unfairly denying medicine to my mother
>> Okay,
I appreciate your concern, thank you for your feedback.
I do think that the best medical practice at the moment is to
manage this conservatively for now.
>> My mother worked and paid national health insurance all her life,
now look at what's happening.
>> Sure, I mean, this has got in no way to do with
your mother's health insurance payments.
I believe this is the best medical practice at the moment for your mom.
I think the use of antibiotics in terms of the risks and
the side effects that they can produce,
such as resistance to future chest infections or problems with the stomach.
Mean that it's probably better to not prescribe them and
to seek medical attention in France should things get worse, which I'm not expecting.
>> They say on the news that old people are just invisible,
not treated with respect by the NHS.
>> Okay, I appreciate your concerns.
Thank you very much for sharing.
>> I suppose that this is all government cuts to the NHS, but
that's just an excuse.
You could give her the antibiotics if you wanted to.
>> Well, I don't think it would be good clinical medicine,
as I've explained before.
I'm very sorry to have to cut the conversation short.
The reception have asked me to see the next patient as an emergency.
I truly wish you have a good holiday.
And if you develop chest pain, shortness of breath, or
a change in the color of the sputum that you're producing,
I do think you should seek medical attention while you're away.
[MUSIC]
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