Digital People direct the attention of users to onscreen content, with glances, hand gestures, and pointing.

How content awareness works

When the @showcards command is used to display onscreen content, content awareness behavior is autonomously triggered.

@showcards triggers:

• a glance at the content

• an arm gesture towards the content

@showcards does not trigger:

• pointing at content (this needs to be triggered using the @PointObject command )

How commands work

Commands that are subsequent to @showcards in a sentence strip the autonomous behaviour out and introduce what a user wants specifically. Available commands to use are:

Glancing:

• @AttendObject

Gesturing:

• @GestureObject

• @GestureObjectBothSides

Pointing:

• @PointObject

• @PointObjectPalmUp

Examples:

Here is a picture of my cat, @showCards(cat) her name is Calliope.

• Using @showcards(cat) on its own displays the image of the cat, and triggers a glance and an arm gesture.

Here is a picture of my cat, @showCards(cat) her @AttendObject(cat) name is Calliope.

• The subsequent use of @AttendObject(cat) in the sentence refines the autonomous behaviour to include the glance only, deactivating the arm gesture.

Here is a picture of my cat, @showCards(cat) her @PointObject(cat) name is Calliope.

• The subsequent use of @PointObject(cat) in the sentence refines the autonomous behaviour to include the glance, deactivates the arm gesture, and includes a pointing gesture.

Screen zones

Content awareness behavior is also controlled by zone of the screen in which the onscreen content is placed, the size of the frame, and the location of the Digital Person.

• Content in the yellow zones triggers glancing.

• Content in the blue zones triggers glancing and an arm gesture.

• Content in the pink zone triggers glancing and can trigger a pointing gesture.

How commands and screen zone rules interact

• If an object is placed inside the pointing zone, both the @PointObject and @GestureObject will result in pointing behavior.

• If an object is placed in the gesturing zones, both @PointObject and @GestureObject will result in gesturing behavior.

• If an object is placed in the glancing zones, both @PointObject and @GestureObject are disabled, and glancing is performed.

• If the frame area is too small to perform gesturing or pointing (not enough space for arm movement, for example in the widget), both @PointObject and @GestureObject are disabled, and glancing is performed.

Behavior hierarchy

Our autonomous animation system is built with a hierarchy, so that all aspects of our gesturing and behavior work seamlessly together.

Glancing at content

@attendObject

@attendObject([object_id: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

Gesturing at content

@gestureObject

@gestureObject([object_id: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

@GestureObjectBothSides

@gestureObjectBothSides([object_id_1: str],[object_id_2: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

The developer has to make sure that objects are placed on both sides of Digital Person in the blue zones above, as the Digital Person will always perform the gesture.

Pointing at content

The Digital Person will perform pointing with either their right or left hand depending on the content placement with respect to the Digital Person. They will not reach across their own body.

Pointing has the highest priority in the animation system, overriding Real-Time Gesturing and Behavior Styles. This feature is enabled via the corpus-based command. You have a choice of hands hape of the Digital Person for pointing at content:

• Finger point @PointObject(x)

• Palm half up @PointObjectPalmUp(x)

Using pointing effectively

1. To use pointing effectively put the showcards command into the corpus first, and then the point command should be added at least three words later.

   We can help you find the perfect present, whether @showcards(x) it’s a fun @PointObject(x) game for children or the latest novel to take on a beach holiday with friends.

2. To use multiple pointing commands close together: individual pointing commands should be separated by a minimum of three or more words. In the below example, the two pointing commands are separated by 6 words.

   Example: We can help you find the perfect present, whether @showcards(x) it’s a fun @PointObject(x) game for children  @showcards(x)  or the latest  @PointObject(x)  novel to take on a beach holiday with friends.

3. To use both pointing and gesturing at content in the same sentence; gesture commands must be manually inserted. This is because the use of a pointing command in a sentence disables the otherwise automatic insertion of a gesture for additional content.

   Example: We can help you find the perfect present, whether @showcards(x) it’s a fun @PointObject(x) game for children  @showcards(x)  or the latest  @GestureObject(x)  novel to take on a beach holiday with friends.

@PointObject

@PointObject([object_id: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

@PointObjectPalmUp

@PointObjectPalmUp([object_id: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

The Digital Person will perform pointing in the same way as for command @PointObject() but with a different pointing style. Here, the palm would be turned halfway up and fully open. See parameter description for @PointObject() command.

In the following examples, both the @PointObject and @PointObjectPalmUp functions are used in the corpus.

Pointing without coordinates

Here is a multi-card response @showcards(choiceA,choiceB) I can point at the first card @PointObject(choice). Also, I can gesture at the second card  @GestureObject(choiceB).

Sample payload for cards:

{
  "soulmachines": {
    "choiceB": {
      "component": "image",
      "position": "left",
      "data": {
        "url": "https://placekitten.com/300/300",
        "alt": "A cute kitten"
      }
    },
    "choiceA": {
      "position": "right",
      "component": "image",
      "data": {
        "url": "https://placekitten.com/300/300",
        "alt": "A cute kitten"
      }
    }
  }
}

Pointing with coordinates

@showcards(choiceA)@showcards(choiceB)This is an example of pointing using two pointing styles. I can point @PointObjectPalmUp(choiceB,0,3) with my right arm palm up. I can point @PointObjectPalmUp(choiceA,0,3) with my left arm palm up.  I can use my finger to point at the bottom left corner  @PointObject(choiceA-child-1,0,3) and bottom right corner @PointObject(choiceA-child-2,2.1,3) of the card.

Sample payload for cards:

{
  "soulmachines": {
    "choiceB": {
      "component": "image",
      "position": "left",
      "data": {
        "url": "https://placekitten.com/300/300",
        "alt": "A cute kitten"
      }
    },
    "choiceA": {
      "meta": {
        "choiceA-child-1": {
          "u": 0,
          "v": 0.9
        },
        "choiceA-child-2": {
          "u": 0.9,
          "v": 0.9
        }
      },
      "position": "right",
      "component": "image",
      "data": {
        "url": "https://placekitten.com/300/300",
        "alt": "A cute kitten"
      }
    }
  }
}