General

Where can I get the

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Toolkit?

Please see the Support Download section on how to obtain the toolkit.

How do I install the

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Toolkit?

Please see the tutorial on how to install the toolkit Installing the Toolkit tutorial.

How do I run the provided example scenario?

Please see the Running the tutorial on how to run the exampleExample Scenario tutorial.

Is the

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Toolkit open source?

Some components, like SmartBody, Launcher, Logger and VHMsg, are open source, while others are binary-only. We might release the source code of these in the future, though. SmartBody has its own SourceForge page which you can access hereSourceForge page which you can access here. See the License Agreement page for licensing information. 

What is the license agreement for the Toolkit?

The License Agreement states, but is not limited to:

• The Toolkit and any of its components is to only be used for academic research and US Government purposes.
• Cite us appropriately when using the Toolkit or any of its components for published research. See Papers for details.
• Toolkit users are required to honor all licenses of components and supporting software as defined in Exhibit A of the License Agreement.

The complete License Agreement and supporting documentation is found in the License section.

Is there a commercial version of the Toolkit?

Not at the moment, but we are looking into it. Please contact us directly if you are interested in a commercial license.

Which platforms does the

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Toolkit support?

The toolkit Toolkit as a whole is currently targeted for the Microsoft Windows platform only, including XP and in particular Windows 7, both 32 and 64 bit. Some components are multi-platform, most notably SmartBody and the NPCEditor which drives the characters, and the , as well as the Launcher and Logger. Some other components could be ported to support other platforms, like SmartBody and Ogre.C# components should work on Mac OS when using Mono. 

I know of this great character at ICT that uses

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Toolkit technology. Can I get access to the data driving that character?

With the toolkit Toolkit we are aiming to provide a technical platform allowing researchers to more quickly create their own virtual humans. Whether project-specific agents will be made available to the public will be determined on a case by case basis, but will usually fall outside the scope of the toolkitToolkit.

Installation Process

Why do some of the 3rd party installers not start?

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If you installed the MS SAPI voices and you are running Windows XP 64 bit, some changes in the registry are required to be able to use the installed voices. You can do this by double clicking "Microsoft-Voices.reg" in "C:\vhtoolkit\scripts". You can check to see if the changes worked by going to the Speech settings in Windows (Start -> Control Panel -> Speech). Under "Voice Selection" you should have several options, including "Microsoft Mike".

Running the Example

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Scenario

Why can't I run the Launcher? It came up fine after the installation

It might be that the executable used to start the Launcher can  can not be found. Please make sure that javaw.exe is part of your path. The location is usually "C:\Program Files \Java\jre1.6.0_10\bin" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.6.0_1026\bin". The path is defined in your Environment Variables; right-click on My Computer, go to the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables. The Toolkit is currently only compatible with the 32 bit version of Java.

Why do I get many errors and are all the Launcher rows orange?

Orange means that the Launcher has  has tried to launch a component, but hasn't gotten a confirmation message back indicating it is up and running. This is likely due to not running the ActiveMQ service. Please make sure it is running (Right click My Computer, select Manage, Services and Applications, Services). If it is not running, turn it on (the Play button at the top). If it is not present, please install using the toolkit installer with 3rd party software.

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1. Be sure to install all 3rd party software that comes with the installer. Gamebryo needs specific versions of DirectX to run, which comes with the installer. 
2. If this doesn't work, make sure that you have the latest video drivers installed.
3. Make sure that your video card supports shader model 3 or higher. This is usually the case with newer dedicated video cards. Integrated video cards might not work.
4. See if the problem happens with both Gamebryo Unity and Ogre. If Ogre works in OpenGL mode, it might be a DirectX problem.

Why don't I see Brad and Rachel, even though a renderer (Unity, Ogre) is running?

Is SmartBody running? You can see this by looking at the SmartBody row in the Launcher. If it's green, it is running, if it is orange, its status is unknown (usually, the Launcher tried running the component, but did not get confirmation it is actually up and running), and if the color is neutral it means it is not running. Make sure the renderer is up and running before you start SmartBody. Please also make sure the renderer is completely up and running before you start SmartBody. If you use the Run All button, you might have to kill SmartBody and launch it manually.

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A toolkit component that allows users, authors and developers supportive functions.

Toolkit

See FAQ#Virtual Virtual Human Toolkit.

TTS

See FAQ#TextText-To-Speech.

USC

See University of Southern California.

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Usually an acronym used to refer to the ICT Virtual Humans group.

VHT

See FAQ#Virtual Virtual Human Toolkit.

Vhtoolkit

See FAQ#Virtual Virtual Human Toolkit.

Virtual Human Toolkit

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