Rating: 
Summary: Great concept...poor execution
Review: The book is great introduction to the concept of virtual humans...BUT the included software is so buggy as to be totally useless. To give the author credit he has addressed this through his yahoo community...over and over, and still there is no version that reliably installs.Buy the book for the concepts, through the CD away and save yourself the heartburn.
Rating: 
Summary: Walk in the park.
Review: The book is truly an excellent guide to help the novice chatterbot [V-person] builder to get a feel of what is possible with this type of technology in its broadest interpretation. Even the non-technical people will find the book a pleasant read, since the author himself is certainly no programmer. With his humorous way of writing and the brilliant anecdotes it feels more like taking a quiet stroll through a park while listening to the author speak then actually ... well.. reading I'd have to say. There certainly wasn't any effort from my part to go through the material. Somewhat experienced AIML developers will certainly appreciate the first part of the book that deals with virtual character development. Of course, chapter 17, dedicated to this particular scripting technology, is certainly one that gives a good overview of the online AIML community. 3D developers will find Peter's chapters on human representation, and some of the guest writers' contributions, practical in creating realistic facial animation. Blending his classical psychology education with personal observation of human behaviour. Not only saying how, but also why to implement a particular effect.
Rating: 
Summary: SOFTWARE INCLUDED WILL NOT INSTALL
Review: THE SOFTWARE SUPPLIED WILL NOT INSTALL ON WINDOWS 2000. THE WEBSITE OF THE PUBLISHER OFFERS A ZIP TO CORRECT. HOWEVER THE LINKS TO DOWNLOAD DO NOT WORK.
EMAIL SENT TO PUBLISHER SEEKING ASSISTANCE WAS RETURNED.
Rating:
Summary: good preparation for what is to come
Review: The technology talked about in this book, is so close we can almost smell it! "Virtual Humans" is a unique and enjoyable read from start to finish. Peter goes into in depth detail on the personality of V-People explaining a lot of the problems associated with them, as well as the moral and ethical debates that will no doubtadly be raised as they advance and become more mainstream. This is by no means a tech heavy book, but it is ideal as a "starter manual" on the technology and lets you know all the strengths and weaknesses of the current renditions of V-Humans. There are tutorials on how to use existing programs to script your own bots, and also pointers for the more adventurous to go out and roll their own v-Humans from scratch. If you have any interest in this technology, or are just curious, buy this book. The CdRom included with the book is also very informative with many demo's and free programs that are out there today. Highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction
Review: This book immediately caught my attention at the bookstore. It takes us beyond computer animation into the realm of AI programming of virtual humans - or androids. At least in a rudimentary sense. The next step once you have a functional AI brain with a personality would be to put it into a physical robot. The book itself is an interesting introduction to this growing area of research. If you are into animation and AI you should find it of great interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for beginners, bad for anybody with experience
Review: This is an excellent introduction to the use of virtual actors in software. It covers all the basic ground: facial display and animation, voice generation and synthesis, home control, and simple agent technology. It includes a CD with lots of great free software (and demos of commercial software) that covers most of the subjects Plantec covers. It lives up to its billing as a "do it yourself kit" for virtual humans. I highly recommend it to those just putting their toes into the water.
I do not, however, recommend this book for that small group of people who already have familiarity with the subject. I bought it thinking that it might cover some material that I have missed. It doesn't, and I think that anybody working in the field will have a similar experience. I was particularly disappointed by the use of a simple branching boolean tree system for artificial intelligence. Agent technology has gone far beyond this. I recognize that it's appropriate for beginners, but again, this book has nothing to offer anybody with experience in the field.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Starting Point for People New to V-Humans
Review: This is the most readable book I have ever read. It reads so well the chapters flow straight to mind with ner a glitch. I guess Mr. Plantec's background as master psychologist allows him to write so elegant and straightforward to the message. The book easily helps me see possibilities in the field of v-humans. Mr. Plantec honestly points to where we are in the state of the art, what is is availble now, then to the areas of virtual human development that need work to make them more useful - therein giving people like me directions to points of departure for the adventure of simulating v-people for the service of users.
Then again, maybe it's Mr. Plantec's willingness and desire to serve people well on these topics that makes the book so great.
Rating:
Summary: Master of communications
Review: This is the most readable book I have ever read. It reads so well the chapters flow straight to mind with ner a glitch. I guess Mr. Plantec's background as master psychologist allows him to write so elegant and straightforward to the message. The book easily helps me see possibilities in the field of v-humans. Mr. Plantec honestly points to where we are in the state of the art, what is is availble now, then to the areas of virtual human development that need work to make them more useful - therein giving people like me directions to points of departure for the adventure of simulating v-people for the service of users.
Then again, maybe it's Mr. Plantec's willingness and desire to serve people well on these topics that makes the book so great.
Rating:
Summary: "She's got a great personality"
Review: Virtual humans are here and we will see more of them in the future. Peter Plantec's premise is that the more "human" they seem, the less robotic they appear, and that will engage us humans so we will enjoy interacting with the V-people. His book tells how to create a personality in a V-person, including software. The book is easy to read, very entertaining, and gives a glimpse of our likely future with these V-People. WIth this book, you will be able to create your own V-person and give it a personality and emotional quirks.
Rating:
Summary: A useful help button some day?
Review: Virtual Humans is an easily readable book introducing the future interfaces between humans and large and difficult to access bodies of information. This is a very unusual treatise in that it is both interesting, funny, well written, and understandable by all but the most computer literate among us. I recommend it without reservation as an introduction to the near future of artificial intelligence and future, hopefully, helpful useful help buttons.
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