Deprecated in Windows 7. This technology might not be available in later versions of Windows. The Microsoft Agent animation services automatically play certain animations for you. For example, when you use MoveTo or GestureAt commands, the animation services play an appropriate animation. Similarly, after the idle time out, the services automatically play animations. To support these states, you can define appropriate animations and then assign them to the states. You can still play any animation you define directly using the Play method, even if you assign it to a state.

You can assign multiple animations to the same state, and the animation services will randomly choose one of your animations. This enables your character to exhibit a far more natural variety in its behavior.

Although animations that you assign to states can include branching frames, avoid looping animations (animations that branch forever). Otherwise, you will have to use the Stop method before you can play another animation.

It's important to define and assign at least one animation for each state that occurs for the character. If you do not supply these animations and state assignments, your character may not appear to behave appropriately to the user. However, if a state does not occur for a particular character, you need not assign an animation to that state. For example, if your host application never calls the MoveTo method, you can skip creating and assigning Moving state animations.

The Hearing and Listening States

The animation you assign to the Listening state plays when the user presses the push-to-talk hot key for speech input. Create and assign a short animation that makes the character look attentive. Similarly, define its Return animation to have a short duration so that the character plays its Hearing state animation when the user speaks. A Hearing state animation should also be brief, and designed to let the user know that the character is actively listening to what the user says. Head tilts or other slight gestures are appropriate. To provide natural variability, provide several Hearing state animations.

The Gesturing States

You need to create and assign Gesturing state animations only if you plan to use the GestureAt method. Gesturing state animations play when Microsoft Agent processes a call to the GestureAt method. If you define mouth overlays for your Gesturing state animations, the character can speak as it gestures.

The animation services determine the character's location and its relation to the location of the coordinates specified in the method, and play an appropriate animation. Gesturing direction is always with respect to the character; for example, GestureRight should be a gesture to the character's right.

The Showing and Hiding States

The Showing and Hiding states play the assigned animations when the user or the host application requests to show or hide the character. These states also appropriately set the character frame's Visible state. When defining animations for these states, keep in mind that a character can appear or depart at any screen location. Because the user can show or hide any character, always support at least one animation for these states.

Animations that you assign to the Showing state typically end with a frame containing the character's neutral position image. Conversely, Hiding state animations typically begin with the neutral position. Showing and Hiding state animations can include an empty frame at the beginning or end, respectively, to provide a transition from the character's current state.

The Idling States

The Idling states are progressive. The animation services begin using the Level 1 assignments for the first idle period, and use the Level 2 animations for the second. After this, the idle cycle progresses to the Level 3 assigned animations and remains in this state until canceled, such as when a new animation request begins.

Design animations for the Idling states to communicate the state of the character, but not to distract the user. The animations should appropriately reflect the responsiveness of the character in subtle but clear ways. For example, glancing around or blinking are good animations to assign to the IdlingLevel1 state. Reading animations work well for the IdlingLevel2 state. Sleeping or listening to music with headphones are good examples of animations to assign to the IdlingLevel3 state. Animations that include many or large movements are not well suited for idle animations because they draw the user's attention. Because Idling state animations are played frequently, provide several Idling state animations, especially for the IdlingLevel1 and IdlingLevel2 states.

Note that an application can turn off the automatic idle processing for a character and manage the character's Idling state itself. The Agent Idling states are designed to help you avoid any situation where the character has no animation to play. A character image that does not change after a brief period of time is like an application displaying a wait pointer for a long time, which detracts from the sense of believability and interactivity. Maintaining the illusion does not take much: sometimes just an animated blink, visible breath, or body shift.

The Speaking State

The animation services use the Speaking state when a speaking animation cannot be found for the current animation. Assign a simple speaking animation to this state. For example, you can use a single frame consisting of the character's neutral position with mouth overlays.

The Moving States

The Moving states play when an application calls the MoveTo method. The animation services determine which animation to play based on the character's current location and the specified coordinates. Movement direction is based on the character's position. Therefore, the animation you assign to the MovingLeft animation should be based on the character's left. If you don't use the MoveTo method, you can skip creating and assigning an animation.

Moving state animations should animate the character into its moving position. The last frame of this animation is displayed as the character's frame is moved on the screen. There is no support for animating the character while its frame moves.

Standard Animation Set

While you can design a custom character to have the animations you want to use, Microsoft Agent defines a standard animation set. Characters that conform to this definition can be selected as a default character.

The following table lists the animations included in the standard animation set. Even if you are creating a custom character, you may want to use the list as a guide for designing your own characters. Characters that support the standard animation set must support at least the following animations.

1 Animation requires mouth overlays and a defined speaking frame.

2 Animation requires an assigned Return animation either based on its exit branching or an explicit Return animation.

In addition, a character must have the following state assignments.