Animating 2D Digital Puppets with Limited Autonomy

In this paper we describe the graphical realization and authoring of a semi-autonomous animated persona, called a Digital Puppet. Digital Puppets augment on-line educational materials with assistance, commentary and summaries, and have been used in both the tutoring and presentation domains. Limited animation, 2D "cartoon" characters are useful for some pedagogical applications, particularly for young learners, but production demands frequently exceed limited research budgets. To make the production of 2D personas feasible, we present a build-once, use-forever production path that allows us to quickly create new behaviors for characters. Animations are generated by selecting behaviors based on textual content and presentation and tutorial goals, allowing the puppet to act with limited autonomy within specific domains.