FreeWalk

http://www.ai.soc.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp/freewalk/

FreeWalk is a platform where human participants and autonomous characters can socially interact with one another in a virtual city space. The applications of FreeWalk include 3D chat, multi-user training, and visual simulations. FreeWalk has such three capabilities as human behavior visualization, model-based simulation, and multi-user participation. The multi-user multi-agent architecture of FreeWalk allows Internet users to take part in a large-scale online simulation, e.g. an evacuation from a virtual central railway station. The simulation scenario of FreeWalk can be written in Q language.The development and research of FreeWalk is led by Hideyuki Nakanishi and Toru Ishida.

The latest version of FreeWalk is FreeWalk3 (version 4.0). FreeWalk3 is developed by Ishida Lab. and JST Digital City Project. The download package is available currently in Japanese and English. The package includes the interaction design language Q. VRML models of human body, Kyoto Station, Imadegawa Station and Kyoto's Shijo Street (Figure) are als available.

Publications: Hideyuki Nakanishi and Toru Ishida. FreeWalk/Q: Social Interaction Platform in Virtual Space. ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST2004), pp. 97-104, 2004. (pdf, 837KB)