Smart objects

In [Marcelo Kallman, Daniel Thalmann: "Modeling Objects for Interaction Tasks"] a Smart Object is described as a special case of an object in a virtual environment that can describe its own possible interactions.The opposite approach to Smart Objects are 'plain' objects that do not provide this information. The additional information provided by this concept enables far more general interaction schemes, and can greatly simplify the planner of an artificial intelligence agent.

Information that is provided by a Smart Object includes:

* "Object properties": physical properties and a text description

* "Interaction information": position of handles, buttons, grips, ...

* "Object behavior": different behaviors based on state variables

* "Agent behaviors": description of the behavior an agent should follow when using the object

Most versions of smart objects also include animation information in the object information,however this is not an efficient approach, as this may make objects innapropriately oversized [Pieter Jorissen, Maarten Wijnants, Wim Lamotte: "Dynamic Interactions in Physically Realistic Collaborative Virtual Environments"] .

References