Assets DeepMotion Avatar: The Rise of Physically Simulated Characters

Building on top of our previous work in APE (Avatar Physics Engine) we are getting close to a closed Alpha launch of DeepMotion Avatar which is a physics-based character engine designed to enhance traditional keyframe animations with lifelike simulations. Configure 3D assets in a matter of minutes using our simulation rig editor and import your newly interactive characters into your favorite game engine. Reduce the cost of producing complex animations using our self-balancing, autonomous character rigs. Optimize real world machinery by running articulated physics-based simulations and take AR/VR realtime interactive application to the next level with 3 point tracked, full body avatars.

Here is a preview of a self balanced humanoid character simulated by Avatar in Unity Editor:

Any feedback or suggestions are welcome!

Cheers
DeepMotion Physics

 

Bring your virtual characters to life with this revolutionary new suite of tools from DeepMotion. Effortless 3-6 point tracking, a self-balancing lower body, and real-time responsiveness to environment takes social VR and AR experiences to the next level. The following video shows how the 3-6 point inverse dynamics tracking works in Unity Editor. The robot's hands or feet were or head are tracked while still maintaining balancing. Fully physics based character control.

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com

 

More scenarios simulated by DeepMotion Avatar, the physics based character controller and simulation engine. We are striving to upgrade the current key-frame based character animation with fully a physics simulated pipeline. More news to come soon if you are interested in seeing it in Unity.

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com

 

This is the classic physics based character game Sumotori Dreams. This genre of games can be readily created with Avatar using two self balanced physics simulated characters powered by DeepMotion Avatar engine. The difference between Avatar and other physics based animation middle-ware is that Avatar doesn't rely on applying external cheating force (aka "Hand of God") at the root bone of the character to maintain balance, it can perform self balancing with pure internal torques exerted by muscle forces at the joints of the character's skeleton in a physically feasible way. The benefit of a 100% physics simulated character is that it interacts with other physics simulated characters and environment in a more natural and compliant way.

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com

 

DeepMotion Avatar close Alpha is open for sign-up now ! Let us know your feedback and ideas !

http://www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

Nothing less than amazing..

 

Screen captured from iPhone-8 with a physically simulated toy dog in AR. The orange dot shows where the player's finger touches the screen to drag the dog around. No key frame animations, only a simulation of self-balanced quadruped under continuous "touch" interaction by the player.

Checkout more DeepMotion Avatar features here.

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com

 

That latest video isn't showing for some reason? Also, this is cool, but it still looks a bit forced and unnatural right now. Seems like it would really only work well for robot based characters... Definitely would be excited to see more natural looking animation from this. TLDR: Doesn't seem like its quite good enough to replace an animator (yet?) so it seems to have few compelling use cases at the moment.

 

Do you mean the AR Dog video not rendering for you ? It is just a Youtube link to a MP4 video clilp.

Thank you for the input. Indeed we want to improve the naturalness and quality of the physics based character animation. What you saw above is the initial bio-mechanical model of the character that can perform self-balancing while standing or walking or tracking external targets for end effectuators. In order to improve the naturalness and aesthetics of the PBA motion we will offer the following two essential functions from the DeepMotion pipeline:

1. A Live Synced PBA (Physics based Animation) Authoring Pipeline

Animators can author a physics based character from a Maya output FBX asset and make it walk while maintaining balance in Unity or Unreal Engine in under 10 minutes as shown in the following tutorial video. And you can adjust a rich set of physics based locomotion gait and balance control parameters of the character to polish and beautify the simulated motion style using our web based pipeline. The result of the adjustment and polishing will be live synced to your game engine for immediate simulation feedback. This way you can quickly iterate and polish the physics based locomotion controller.

2. Machine Learning based PBA Learner

We understand that the process in 1, although accelerated by our live sync pipeline, is still time consuming and challenging to physics based animators. Thus as we speak we are adding a machine learning based PBA polisher to our pipeline to "teach" the PBA character how to move like a high quality reference animation while maintaining physical feasibility and balancing. The physics simulated blue character here originally knows nothing more than how to stand still while maintaining balancing. After 10 minutes of physics based machine learning from a "high rise stylish walk" reference motion as shown by the green character in the video the simulated blue character now knows how to conduct a physically simulated high rise walk gait while maintaining balancing.

Checkout more DeepMotion Avatar features here.

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com

 

Latest 3 videos are not working for some reason.
Is Avatar release going to be for mac also, I see your alpha is for windows only?

 

Oops, I forgot to publish the last 3 videos Just fixed them now. Can you check if they are viewable ?

Regarding Mac support : The Unity version of the Avatar Alpha release will support Mac. The full Avatar release next year will support more platforms.

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com

 

Thanks for the info! The videos are now showing ok and are also awesome!

 

We are adding a new feature to DeepMotion Avatar : Multiple ID chain support for generalized articulated character.
This will allow users to configure multiple inverse dynamic chains to track the targets of multiple end effectors from the same mechanism of the tree topology. As shown in the video, you can configure the end effectors, roots and tracking targets of each individual chain. Here it shows two chains (one has 4 links and the other has 5 links) configured off a shared mobile platform tracking two moving targets represented by Game Objects rendered as white spheres.

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com

 

Here is a quick test of tntRopeJoint (a force element supported by DeepMotion Avatar Physics that can be used to connect two bodies with a springy rope like force pair). It is collision-less but very cheap to simulate. The dog simulated by DeepMotion Avatar is maintaining balance without any helper / external forces.

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com

 

Applications to participate in the closed alpha of DeepMotion Avatar are open. We're looking for talented developers and innovative teams who can take interactive experiences and lifelike simulation to new heights!

DeepMotion Avatar is a physics-based character engine designed to replace traditional keyframe animations with lifelike simulations. Reduce the cost of producing complex animations using our self-balancing, autonomous character rigs, and soft body simulation. Optimize real-world machinery by running articulated physics-based simulations and take VR to the next level using 3 point tracked, full body avatars.

 

FD (Forward dynamics) allows you apply torques on the parent links and the result motion is propagated to the children. Pose Controller can leverage FD to track a prerecorded animation sequence (e.g. Mocap sequence) with physical torques integrated at the joints.

On the opposite ID (Inverse dynamics) allows you to specify a target transform for the end effector to track and it computes the torques needed at the upstream joints to motorize the end effector to track the target. Pose Controller can use ID to drive the end effectors of a mechanism to reach the desired target locations or orientations.

The new Pose Controller of DeepMotion Avatar allows the mixture of multiple FD chains and ID chains in the same tree structured mechanism. This demo video shows a 6-link robotic arm (including the base) where the left most 2 child links are driven by FK and the right most 3 child links are driven by IK. The IK chain is configured with an IK target configured on the tip of a separate pendulum mechanism. The FK manipulator UI was implemented with a simple script attached on the two FK links that sends the local rotations of the two dummy GameObjects configured in the parent links of the FK links to the PoseController in each frame. Thus we can drive the FK chain by rotating the two dummy GameObjects in Unity Editor whose local rotations are sent to PoseController.

The video shows that the Avatar Pose Controller are tracking both FK and IK goals simultaneously and satisfying both of them to the limits of the underlying physics. Since the motion of the arm is physically simulated the animated arm can seamlessly interact with other dynamics mechanisms as well such as the pendulum in the video realistically.

The simulation was run at 60Hz.

Participate the Alpha here!

 

Tutorial: Creating Self-balanced Box Bot from Boxes in Unity (Part-1)

 

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

Cheers
DeepMotion Physcs
www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

No key frame animation or MOCAP. Just physics simulation of a self-balanced zombie rig by DeepMotion Avatar.

Cheers
DeepMotion Avatar
www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

Here we show that how a self-balanced quadruped character simulated by DeepMotion Avatar adapts to dynamic body change. In this case we made his right rear leg 60% of the normal length. Without any adjustment to the balance and locomotion parameters the dog still limp around as best as he can. This demonstrates the potential of generating a large variety of physics based animations by tweaking a small set of physics properties of the rig.

Cheers
DeepMotion Avatar
www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

@DeepMotionPhysics I would love to participate in your alpha program. I'm currently working on some procedural, physics-based game prototypes. Right now I'm working on a character controller and having a system like your in place for the user to control would be amazing.

 

Nice work, @DeepMotionPhysics. As it's a WIP, there are some visible imperfections, but it's still commendable how alive the avatars look even with the flaws. I look forward to seeing what you accomplish as you continue your work!

 

We had a cat with two back feet missing, and she adapted and moved very much like this. (The story has a happy ending. She couldn't get along with her sister, a very extroverted calico, but we re-homed her with a close friend who had another introverted cat, and the two of them are now best friends and very contented together. Kira is doing marvelously.)

Long story short, from what I've seen of a real animal adapting to a limb deformity, you've nailed it.

 

You are welcome, David ! Please sign up our Alpha at http://deepmotion.com/avatar with a quote of this message.

 

Oh... thank you for sharing with us your story, we were touched by the perseverance of Kira. It will definitely encourage us to improve our tech to simulate more realistic creature motion.

For that, we made another video for Kira, Doggie on the Ice! Hope it brings some laughter to the kit.

 

I showed the vid to my wife. We agreed that the slipping and sliding, and the recovery, looked surprisingly good for an alpha release. I'm going to watch this project with interest, because I had considered doing some research of my own in this direction (I have a background in industrial material handling controls, so it's an area of interest). But I think you're already well along the way toward accomplishing what I would have wanted to do, so I'm going to relax and enjoy watching what you make!

 

Hey @DeepMotionPhysics, I just signed up on your site but got an error that says:

We're sorry, but something went wrong.
If you are the application owner check the logs for more information.

I hope it worked. Please let me know. I signed up with david [at] davidseth [dot] net

 

Thank you for applying. We didn't see your application in the database Did you fill in all required information in the form marked with "*" and you still failed to register ? If so please copy/paste the required field informations in an email message to support@deepmotion.com and we'll manually enter you into the system.

Thanks
DM

 

It is extremely challenging to design a physically correct self-balanced walker with no knee joints because you have to rely on subtle torso swing to lift your feet without scratching the ground. Here we prototyped one simulated by DeepMotion Avatar character physics engine.

For whatever reason this blocky dude enjoyed showing off his single leg balancing capability

Cheers
DeepMotion Avatar
www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

A humanoid runner gait simulated by Avatar character physics engine.

Avatar is in closed Alpha now and sign-up available at : http://www.deepmotion.com/avatar

 

This looks tremendous. When you are able to integrate this with the new C# job system coming in Unity 2018, for performance benefits, this will be a fantastic tool. (I'm not saying it's bad now....just that this sort of problem lends itself so well to the job system when you consider the possibility of many avatars in a scene.)

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I was particularly impressed by the avatar's response to disturbances right around 2:45 in the video.

 

Yeah, we heard about the new C# job system that supports parallelism. The core simulation code of Avatar character engine was written in C++ as native plug-in. But the procedural animation scripts can be written in C# and they can probably benefit from the new C# job system. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Real-time simulation of the bio-mechanical model of a jogging humanoid with joint stress analysis to give insight into the underlying dynamics. Full skeleton joint pressure distribution temperature graph was visualized based on realtime physical simulation feedback. The digital human was disturbed by external forces frequently visualized by Red Arrows. Green Arrows are the visualization of the ground reaction force as simulated that pushes the digital athlete forward. Also a historical graph of joint stress force was turned on towards the end of the video.

The simulation and visualization were enabled by DeepMotion Avatar at http://deepmotion.com/avatar

 

Procedural Animation for Characters via Scripting in C#.

 

Nice article! Thanks for sharing.

 

How to Make 3 point tracked full body avatars in VR

 

I also could not fill out your form, so I mailed you instead. But I'm just a lone, hobby developer, so maybe I'm not that interesting to have in a closed alpha.

 

Are you interested in a tester doing cinematic work on a fairly rough voxel terrain? I can't promise to refocus my project just on testing animation tools, but what I've got has proved challenging for traditional tools and might be a candidate.

Alternatively, I'd gladly share my voxel mesh for you to do your own testing later, under a "gentlemen's agreement" informal NDA.

 

We'd love to give it a try if you can provide a Unity test scene. Feel free to remove proprietary features from it.

 

Will do. I'm just finishing up another project in the next few days and will then be returning to my cinematic project. The one I'm finishing up is on a schedule, whereas the cinematic one is just something I'm doing as a portfolio piece, so it got interrupted temporarily.

 

Been having trouble getting a build working on android. Works perfectly fine in the editor, but not in the build. Any suggestions for how to get a proper build working on mobile?

 

You need the plugin for iOS or Android in order to build for mobile. They are currently only available under commercial license. Please contact licensing@deepmotion.com for commercial licensing.

 

This looks really cool for playing around with. But as a pragmatist, having tried the box robot tutorial (with only very, very partial success), this seems a little too unstable to expect to work well consistently for a number of robots walking through a maze in a game played by thousands of people over and over, without massively screwing up if something small goes wrong. Not that you made any claims that it was ready for that -- I was just hoping to be able to one day use it for that. . You may want to consider offering a much simpler, less realistic component option for those who just want to throw a bunch of procedurally generated limbs together and have them move like silly, archaic robots without caring about realism.

 

how much is the deepmotion Neuron thing expected to cost for 1 man indie type devs?

I'm interested in making a VR sword fighting game, and have been doing a lot of research into good enemy behavior.

So far the best option i see is a mix of animation and IK, plus maybe some puppetmaster ragdoll mix.

But this Deepmotion completely self controlling locomotion intrigues me.
I could see using Neuron to train a character different sword attacks, defense, dodge, movement.
Could be amazing in VR.

Shame it's all still in WIP.

 

Hi! What happend to avatar? There is none on your site, only neuron wich is another story completely.

 

@shamsfk

DM Avatar Character Engine ("ACE") was launched and the Avatar Alpha program is closed. However we are still a startup and due to the cost of support we are only servicing B2B customers for this initial launch. We hope in the future we will be able to create a license or business model for indie developers to leverage APE as well.

For now if you are a studio or company who is interested in licensing DeepMotion Avatar for a commercial product or project please contact our enterprise/studio sales team with the following form and include the word "ACE" in the message:

https://www.deepmotion.com/general-contact

There are some really really exciting commercial projects/titles being built with ACE now by our customers and we might be able to announce one of them in the near future. So, stay tuned !

Thanks
Articulated Physics Team