Abstract
The confluence of computer graphics and artificial life has produced virtual worlds inhabited by realistic ''artificial animals''. These synthetic organisms possess biomechanical bodies, sensors, and brains with locomotion, perception, behavior, learning, and cognition centers. Artificial animals, including artificial humans, are of interest because they are self-animating creatures that dramatically advance the state of the art of character animation and interactive games. As biomimetic autonomous agents situated in realistic virtual worlds, artificial animals also foster a deeper, computationally oriented understanding of complex living systems.
