Though actively pursued by several research groups, the problem of providing a synthetic or surrogate human for an engineer or designer already used to Computer Aided Design techniques has been most comprehensively solved by Norman Badler's computer graphics laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania - one of the world leaders in the field of simulated human figures in computer graphics. For human factors engineers, this book provides current knowledge of how a computer graphics surrogate human can augment their analyses of designed environments; for design engineers it presents the cutting edge in human figure modelling and hence human-centred design and for the computer graphics community it presents a major research effort in the interactive control of articulated human figures. This book constitutes the state of the art in simulating human figures, discusses the many areas of application and predicts the future in this exciting, fast moving field.

During the past decade, high-performance computer graphics have found application in an exciting and expanding range of new domains. Among the most dramatic developments has been the incorporation of real-time interactive manipulation and display for human figures. Though actively pursued by several research groups, the problem of providing a synthetic or surrogate human for engineers and designers already familiar with computer-aided design techniques was most comprehensively solved by Norman Badler's computer graphics laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. The breadth of that effort as well as the details of its methodology and software environment are presented in this volume. The book is intended for human factors engineers interested in understanding how a computer-graphics surrogate human can augment their analyses of designed environments. It will also inform design engineers of the state of the art in human figure modeling, and hence of the human-centered design central to the emergent concept of concurrent engineering. In fulfilling these goals, the book additionally documents for the entire computer graphics community a major research effort in the interactive control of articulated human figures.