3/29 Optimizing Walking Controllers

This paper was pretty much an improvement on Simbicon. In order to fix the problem of characters stomping, they added joints in the feet to allow them to curve, as we do due to our toes. It was an improvement, but it still looked bizarre. We mentioned in class though that everyone that tries to add toes keeps their characters seemingly barefoot - I wonder if it wouldn't look so strange if they had the toes move inside shoes. Or even restrict the feet to bend based on the flexibility of most shoes. Either way, the toes were bending too much for too long, creating a really strange motion. Another thing that struck me was how different the results looked when adapted for different body types. The regular, short, and overweight bodies looked awkward, but the tall and thin bodies looked a lot better - believable almost! We haven't see any research that examines how motions differ between people of different body types, but I think that could be useful. It might be that this paper's method is ideal for tall and lean bodies, whereas other equations might be better for short and squat. I think a lot of researchers tend to neglect the many differences in the human body, and treat motions as if they are the same for everyone. Of course, we should perfect one walk before we try to perfect them all, but I do think this is something people should look into.