Patents by Inventor Jessica Hodgins

Jessica Hodgins has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20220237879
    Abstract: A method for training a real-time, direct clothing modeling for animating an avatar for a subject is provided. The method includes collecting multiple images of a subject, forming a three-dimensional clothing mesh and a three-dimensional body mesh based on the images of the subject, and aligning the three-dimensional clothing mesh to the three-dimensional body mesh to form a skin-clothing boundary and a garment texture. The method also includes determining a loss factor based on a predicted cloth position and garment texture and an interpolated position and garment texture from the images of the subject, and updating a three-dimensional model including the three-dimensional clothing mesh and the three-dimensional body mesh according to the loss factor. A system and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions to cause the system to execute the above method are also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Publication date: July 28, 2022
    Inventors: Chenglei Wu, Fabian Andres Prada Nino, Timur Bagautdinov, Weipeng Xu, Jessica Hodgins, Donglai Xiang
  • Patent number: 10262447
    Abstract: Systems and methods of virtual entity animation are presented herein. A virtual entity may have virtual skin defined by a model having a set of vertices. A skeletal-based skin deformation method of animation may be used wherein individual vertices in the model may have individually and independently determined centers of rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2019
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Binh H. Le, Jessica Hodgins
  • Publication number: 20180096510
    Abstract: Systems and methods of virtual entity animation are presented herein. A virtual entity may have virtual skin defined by a model having a set of vertices. A skeletal-based skin deformation method of animation may be used wherein individual vertices in the model may have individually and independently determined centers of rotation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2016
    Publication date: April 5, 2018
    Inventors: Binh H. Le, Jessica Hodgins
  • Patent number: 9156159
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for optimizing and maintaining cyclic biped locomotion of a robot on an object. The approach includes simulating trajectories of the robot in contact with the object. During each trajectory, the robot maintains balance on the object, while using the object for locomotion. The approach further includes determining, based on the simulated trajectories, an initial state of a cyclic gait of the robot such that the simulated trajectory of the robot starting from the initial state substantially returns to the initial state at an end of one cycle of the cyclic gait. In addition, the approach includes sending joint angles and joint velocities of the initial state to a set of joint controllers of the robot to cause a leg of the robot to achieve the initial state so the robot moves through one or more cycles of the cyclic gait.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: DISNEY ENTERPRISES INC.
    Inventors: Jessica Hodgins, Katsu Yamane, Yu Zheng
  • Patent number: 9159362
    Abstract: A system and method for providing a plurality of frames from a video, the video having been taken from a first person's perspective, identifying patterns of attention depicted by living beings appearing in the plurality of frames, identifying social interactions associated with the plurality of frames using the identified patterns of attention over a period of time and using the identified social interactions to affect the subsequent use, storage, presentation, or processing of the plurality of frames.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Alizreza Fathi, Jessica Hodgins, James Rehg
  • Patent number: 8947441
    Abstract: There is provided a system and method for database driven action capture. By utilizing low cost, lightweight MEMS devices such as accelerometers, a user friendly, wearable, and cost effective system for motion capture is provided, which relies on a motion database of previously recorded motions to reconstruct the actions of a user. By relying on the motion database, calculation errors such as integration drift are avoided and the need for complex and expensive positional compensation hardware is avoided. The accelerometers may be implemented in an E-textile embodiment using inexpensive off-the-shelf components. In some embodiments, compression techniques may be used to accelerate linear best match searching against the motion database. Adjacent selected motions may also be blended together for improved reconstruction results and visual rendering quality. Various perceivable effects may be triggered in response to the reconstructed motion, such as animating a 3D avatar, playing sounds, or operating a motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Jessica Hodgins, Ronit Slyper
  • Publication number: 20140270707
    Abstract: A system and method for providing a plurality of frames from a video, the video having been taken from a first person's perspective, identifying patterns of attention depicted by living beings appearing in the plurality of frames, identifying social interactions associated with the plurality of frames using the identified patterns of attention over a period of time and using the identified social interactions to affect the subsequent use, storage, presentation, or processing of the plurality of frames.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Inventors: Alireza Fathi, Jessica Hodgins, James Rehg
  • Publication number: 20130238122
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for optimizing and maintaining cyclic biped locomotion of a robot on an object. The approach includes simulating trajectories of the robot in contact with the object. During each trajectory, the robot maintains balance on the object, while using the object for locomotion. The approach further includes determining, based on the simulated trajectories, an initial state of a cyclic gait of the robot such that the simulated trajectory of the robot starting from the initial state substantially returns to the initial state at an end of one cycle of the cyclic gait. In addition, the approach includes sending joint angles and joint velocities of the initial state to a set of joint controllers of the robot to cause a leg of the robot to achieve the initial state so the robot moves through one or more cycles of the cyclic gait.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2012
    Publication date: September 12, 2013
    Applicant: DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
    Inventors: Jessica HODGINS, Katsu YAMANE, Yu ZHENG
  • Publication number: 20100309209
    Abstract: There is provided a system and method for database driven action capture. By utilizing low cost, lightweight MEMS devices such as accelerometers, a user friendly, wearable, and cost effective system for motion capture is provided, which relies on a motion database of previously recorded motions to reconstruct the actions of a user. By relying on the motion database, calculation errors such as integration drift are avoided and the need for complex and expensive positional compensation hardware is avoided. The accelerometers may be implemented in an E-textile embodiment using inexpensive off-the-shelf components. In some embodiments, compression techniques may be used to accelerate linear best match searching against the motion database. Adjacent selected motions may also be blended together for improved reconstruction results and visual rendering quality. Various perceivable effects may be triggered in response to the reconstructed motion, such as animating a 3D avatar, playing sounds, or operating a motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2010
    Publication date: December 9, 2010
    Applicant: DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
    Inventors: Jessica Hodgins, Ronit Slyper
  • Publication number: 20080071507
    Abstract: A method for a computer system includes receiving global positional data associated with a set of markers from a plurality of markers associated with a surface of an object at one or more time instances, wherein global positional data associated with a first marker from the plurality of markers is absent from a first time instance, using local statistical methods to determine global positional data associated with the first marker at the first time instance in response to the global positional data associated with the set of markers at the one or more time instances, and determining a model of the object in response to the global positional data associated with the set of markers and the global positional data associated with the first marker.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2007
    Publication date: March 20, 2008
    Applicants: Carnegie Mellon University, Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Jessica Hodgins, Sang Park
  • Patent number: 5936638
    Abstract: A system generates and arranges animation sequences of articulated characs for review and selection by a user. Motion of articulated characters is based upon input parameters, such as torques at joints of the character. The system can be used to select appropriate parameters to obtain desirable motion of the articulated characters. The system generates a set of input vectors containing parameters of the motion. The input parameters are then processed to determine animation sequences and corresponding output vectors. The output vectors include characteristics of the motion. The input vectors are selected to provide a dispersed set of output vectors. A large number of random input vectors can be generated and then culled to leave a dispersed set of output vectors. Alternatively, a set of randomly generated input vectors of a predetermined size are randomly perturbed, to further disperse the output vectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1999
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America, Inc. (ITA)
    Inventors: Jessica Hodgins, Joseph Marks, Brian Mirtich