We present an optimization framework for generating diverse variations of physics-based character motions. This allows for the auto- matic synthesis of rich variations in style for simulated jumps, flips, and walks. While well-posed motion optimization problems result in a single optimal motion, we explore using underconstrained motion descriptions and then optimizing for diversity. As input, the method takes a parameterized controller for a successful motion instance, a set of constraints that should be preserved, and a pairwise distance metric between motions. An offline optimization then produces a highly diverse set of motion styles for the same task. We demonstrate results for a variety of 2D and 3D physics-based motions and show that this approach can generate compelling new motions.

@article{2013-SCA-diverse,
  title={Diverse Motion Variations for Physics-based Character Animation},
  author={Shailen Agrawal and Shuo Shen and Michiel van de Panne},
  journal={Symposium on Computer Animation},
  year={2013},
  publisher={ACM SIGGRAPH}
}