The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 20, 2004
Filed:
Dec. 20, 1999
Victor Cyril Bellomo, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Eric Manaolana Herrmann, Larkspur, CA (US);
Thrillionaire Productions, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods, systems and apparatuses directed toward an authoring tool that gives users the ability to make high-quality, speech-driven animation in which the animated character speaks in the user's voice. Embodiments of the present invention allow the animation to be sent as a message over the Internet or used as a set of instructions for various applications including Internet chat rooms. According to one embodiment, the user chooses a character and a scene from a menu, then speaks into the computer's microphone to generate a personalized message. Embodiments of the present invention use speech-recognition technology to match the audio input to the appropriate animated mouth shapes creating a professional looking 2D or 3D animated scene with lip-synced audio characteristics.