John Funge

Cognitive modeling for games and animation explores the provocative but largely uncharted interface between computer graphics and artificial intelligence. That interface is now on the verge of explosive growth as a new breed of highly autonomous, quasi-intelligent graphical characters begins to populate the domains of production animation, game development, and multimedia content creation, as well as distributed multiuser virtual worlds, e-commerce, and other Web-enabled activities. The modeling of graphical characters is a multifaceted endeavor, progressing from geometric modeling at the bottom of the hierarchy, through intermediate-level physicsbased modeling, up to behavioral modeling. My research has sought to pioneer cognitive modeling as the hitherto absent but substantive apex of the character-modeling pyramid (see Figure 1). Cognitive models go beyond behavioral models in that they govern what a character knows, how that knowledge is acquired, and how it can be used to plan physical and sensing actions. Cognitive models can also play subsidiary roles in controlling cinematography and lighting for computer games and animation. Moreover, cognitive modeling addresses a challengGive virtual characters an intellectual and sensory boost to improve their chances of survival in and control over their environments—and an enhanced sense of physical reality. a