Phase-functioned neural networks for character control

We present a real-time character control mechanism using a novel neural network architecture called a Phase-Functioned Neural Network. In this network structure, the weights are computed via a cyclic function which uses the phase as an input. Along with the phase, our system takes as input user controls, the previous state of the character, the geometry of the scene, and automatically produces high quality motions that achieve the desired user control. The entire network is trained in an end-to-end fashion on a large dataset composed of locomotion such as walking, running, jumping, and climbing movements fitted into virtual environments. Our system can therefore automatically produce motions where the…