Modulobe, by Kouichirou Eto et al., is a free software tool for constructing virtual creatures.
[Sample creatures made with Modulobe.]
Eto is a highly techno-savvy artist, who made significant contributions to successful projects including Music Plays Images X Images Play Music (with Toshio Iwai and Ryuichi Sakamoto) and Sensorium — I remember his name as the author of the software patch for making LambdaMOO work with Japanese 2-byte character codes.
Modulobe is a simulation system that allows users to easily create and share virtual creatures by combining so-called “modules.” The composed creatures and the world they inhabit operate based on the law of physics.
You can find creatures contributed by users here:
– Animals with many legs
– vehicles
– realistic
– insect-ish
Like Takeo Igarashi’s work on Teddy (a sketching interface for 3d freeform design), modulobe could make it a lot easier for end-users to create animated 3d models. I’d think something like Modulobe can be used as an educational tool for young kids as well.
Modulobe is a project in Fluid Information Design Group at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Contributors include: Kouichirou Eto, Kuniaki Watanabe, Takashi Maekawa, Yoshinori Kawasaki, and Minoru Sakurai.