Anyone for tennis?

In this paper we present a virtual tennis game. We describe the creation an d modeling of the virtual humans and body deformations, also showing the re al-time animation and rendering aspects of the avatars. We focus on the ani mation of the virtual tennis ball and the behavior of a synthetic, autonomo us referee who judges the tennis games. The networked, collaborative, virtu al environment system is described with special reference to its interfaces to driver programs. We also mention the virtual reality (VR) devices that are used to merge the interactive players into the virtual tennis environme nt, together with the equipment and technologies employed for this exciting experience. We conclude with remarks on personal experiences during the ga me and on future research topics to improve parts of the presented system.