Virtual Humans: A Build-It-Yourself Kit, Complete With Software and Step-By-Step Instructions - Softcover

Peter M. Plantec; Ray Kurzwell; Ray Kurzweil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814472214 ISBN 13: 9780814472217

Publisher: Amacom Books, 2003

Synopsis

Provides instructions on creating a synthetic being on a computer, with information on adding unique personalities, realistic voices and faces, and emotions.

About this title

Book Description

"Foreword by Ray Kurzweil, author, The Age of Spiritual Machines

""Virtual humans"" may seem like something out of science fiction, but they are already here. Companies use them as website hosts, individuals use them as personal assistants, and people interact with them in computer games, educational applications, and many other arenas. The possibilities are limitless, but the most amazing thing is that anyone can create a ""V-human"" from scratch. Virtual Humans gives not just start-to-finish instructions for designing a charming synthetic person, but also a CD-ROM containing the tools and techniques to make it real. Readers will learn how to:

* create their own authentic and engaging personalities

* apply VH technology to business and individual projects

* add synthetic voices and realistic faces to virtual humans

* use personality psychology and humor in character design

* design advanced emotion expression engines

This book-and-CD package is the first of its kind and a landmark on a par with the first build-your-own-Web-site products. Readers will be among the first to create ultra-realistic, versatile V-human personalities, and will start well ahead of what is soon to be a tidal wave of worldwide interest."

From the Inside Flap

Virtual Humans lets you create a fully-realized synthetic being, complete with personality traits, physical attributes, communication capabilities, and useful skills – right on your computer!

With Peter Plantec’s step-by-step instructions and the software on the included CD, almost anyone can have a "V-human" up and running in surprisingly little time. What’s more, your creation can be used for innumerable business, entertainment, and educational purposes.

Virtual Humans gives you a clear and accessible guide to:

· Creating unique and engaging personalities
· Adding realistic voices and faces
· Designing and using advanced emotion expression engines
· Using virtual humans as hosts on business and recreational websites

For the cutting-edge business, the computer hobbyist, and even the mad scientist, Virtual Humans shows how to design the perfect V-human, and provides the software to make him or her as real as you can imagine!

Edition details

• Publisher: Amacom Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0814472214
• ISBN 13: 9780814472217
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288