Intelligent Virtual Environments - A State-of-the-art Report

The impetus for this field comes from a number of directions. Firstly, as the amount of processing power available for rendering has increased, it has now become feasible to devote a little of it to aspects of a VE beyond visual realism. However visually appealing a VE is, if it is static and empty of change and behaviour, the immersive experience is of limited interest. Cities without people cannot make the user feel a real sense of presence. While animation can create dynamic interest, its pre-scripted nature runs against the interactional freedom a VE gives users and can only hold their interest for a limited time.