Nicolas Pronost

Associate Professor (Maître de Conférences HDR)
LIRIS Lab - SAARA Research Team
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France


I believe that one of the current challenges in computer animation is the modeling and the simulation of plausible anatomical characters.
My research focuses on technologies merging:

  • physics-based animation, to naturally manage the physical behavior of the human body,
  • soft body deformation, to take into account the continuum mechanics effects of human tissues, and
  • musculoskeletal simulation, to actively actuate the virtual humans through muscle forces.
My investigations mostly involve biomechanical simulations within real-time virtual environments, e.g. animation engine for games and interactive applications.



Publications


Fluid initialization and dynamic window for smoothed-particle hydrodynamics simulation
S. Carensac, N. Pronost and S. Bouakaz
SIMULATION: Transactions of the Society for Modeling and Simulation International, 2024

Anterior-posterior margins of stability when stepping in/out of a moving walkway
V. Gibeaux, N. Pronost, A. Naaim, T. Robert, R. Dumas
48ème Congrès de la Société de Biomécanique (SB), 2023

Contrôle de mouvement pour la simulation d'humains virtuels anatomiques
N. Pronost
Habilitation à diriger des Recherches (HDR), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 2023

Optimizations for predictive-corrective particle-based fluid simulation on GPU
S. Carensac, N. Pronost and S. Bouakaz
The Visual Computer, 2022

The influence of stiff-knee gait on EMG and muscle activation during predictive simulation of a knee disarticulation patient and a healthy subject
G.F. Santos, E. Jakubowitz, N. Pronost, T. Bonis, C. Hurschler
9th World Conference of Biomechanics (WCB), 2022

Motion control and prediction of virtual characters
N. Pronost
Keynote at Computer Graphics International (CGI), 2021

Predictive simulation of post-stroke gait with functional electrical stimulation
G.F. Santos, E. Jakubowitz, N. Pronost, T. Bonis, C. Hurschler
Scientific reports 11 - 21351, 2021

Explicit forward gait prediction using parametric trajectories adaptation
T. Bonis, N. Pronost, G.F. Santos, C. Hurschler, S. Bouakaz
Journées Françaises de l'Informatique Graphique (J.FIG), Sophia Antipolis, 2021

Motion control and prediction of virtual characters
N. Pronost
Keynote Speech at Computer Graphics International (CGI), 2021

Simulation-based optimization approach for explicit forward gait prediction
T. Bonis, N. Pronost, G.F. Santos, C. Hurschler, S. Bouakaz
14th ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion, Interaction and Games, poster session, 2021

Predicting the effects of knee extensor muscle weakening and strengthening on a post-stroke gait
G.F. Santos, E. Jakubowitz, N. Pronost, T. Bonis, C. Hurschler
XXVIII Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB), 2021

Analysis of a predictive forward simulator of human gaits
T. Bonis, N. Pronost and S. Bouakaz
5th International Conference on NeuroRehabilitation (ICNR), 2020

Simulation musculo-squelettique, temps-réel et prédictive de marches pathologiques
T. Bonis, N. Pronost and S. Bouakaz
Journées du Groupe de Travail Animation et Simulation (GTAS), 2020

Analyse de sensibilité d’un simulateur de locomotion basé physique
T. Bonis, N. Pronost and S. Bouakaz
Journées du Groupe de Travail Animation et Simulation (GTAS), 2018

Physics-based control of walking virtual characters in low frequency simulations
S. Carensac, N. Pronost and S. Bouakaz
31st International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents CASA, 2018

Physics-based control of virtual characters in low frequency
S. Carensac, N. Pronost and S. Bouakaz
Journées Françaises d'Informatique Graphique (J.FIG), Rennes, France, 2017

Muscle-Based Control for Character Animation
A.L. Cruz Ruiz, C. Pontonnier, N. Pronost and G. Dumont
Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), 2016

A scalable geometrical model for musculotendon units
F. Laclé and N. Pronost
Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds (CAVW), 2015

Real-time gait control for partially immersed bipeds
S. Carensac, N. Pronost and S. Bouakaz
Proceedings of 8th International ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion In Games (MIG), 2015

Physics-based motion control through hierarchical neuroevolution
M. Hagenaars, N. Pronost and A. Egges
Proceedings of 27th Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents (CASA), 2014

Modeling and Simulating Virtual Anatomical Humans
F. MadehKhaksar, Z. Luo, N. Pronost and A. Egges
3D MultiScale Physiological Human. Ed. Magnenat-Thalmann, Ratib and Choi. Springer London, pp. 137-164, 2014

Physically-based Human Neck Simulation
Z. Luo, N. Pronost and A. Egges
10th Workshop on Virtual Reality Interaction and Physical Simulation (VRIPHYS), 2013

The 5/10 method: a method for designing educational games
J. Jeuring, R. van Rooij and N. Pronost
Poster presented at the Games and Learning Alliance conference (GALA), 2013

Effect of abdominal muscles elongation during pregnancy on L4-L5 spinal load using finite element model
F. Madeh Khaksar, M. Kasra and N. Pronost
Poster presented at Combined Meeting of Orthopaedic Research Societies (CROS), 2013

A practical framework for generating volumetric meshes of subject-specific soft tissue
P. Peeters and N. Pronost
The Visual Computer, 2013

Real-Time Musculoskeletal Model for Injury Simulation on 3D Human Characters
F. Laclé and N. Pronost
Poster presented at Motion In Games Conference (MIG), 2012

Interactive character animation using simulated physics: a state-of-the-art review
T. Geijtenbeek and N. Pronost
Computer Graphics Forum (31-8), pp. 2492-2515, 2012

Simple Data-Driven Control for Simulated Bipeds

T. Geijtenbeek, N. Pronost, and A.F. van der Stappen
Proceedings of Eurographics / ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA), pp. 211-219, 2012

Interactive character animation using simulated physics

T. Geijtenbeek, N. Pronost, A. Egges, and M. Overmars
Eurographics - State of The Art Report, 2011

Evaluation of a geometry-based knee joint compared to a planar knee joint

A. Sandholm, C. Schwartz, N. Pronost, M. de Zee, M. Voigt and D. Thalmann
The Visual Computer (27-2), pp. 161-171, feb 2011
A visualization framework for the analysis of neuromuscular simulations

N. Pronost, A. Sandholm and D. Thalmann
The Visual Computer (27-2), pp. 109-119, feb 2011

Correlative joint definition for motion analysis and animation

N. Pronost, A. Sandholm and D. Thalmann
Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds (21-3,4) CASA 2010 Special Issue, pp. 183-192, 2010

A Visualization Tool for OpenSim

N. Pronost, A. Sandholm and D. Thalmann
Proceedings of 3D Anatomical Human Summer School 2010, pp. 8-9, may 2010

Evaluation of a geometry-based knee joint compared to a planar knee joint

A. Sandholm, C. Schwartz, N. Pronost, M. de Zee, M. Voigt and D. Thalmann
Proceedings of 3D Anatomical Human Summer School 2010, pp. 34-35, may 2010

Biomechanical analysis of dancer's hip joint during extreme motions

L. Assassi, A. Sandholm, N. Pronost, P. Volino, D. Thalmann and N. Magnenat-Thalmann
Proceedings of 3D Anatomical Human Summer School 2010, pp. 26-27, may 2010

Morphology independent motion retrieval and control

N. Pronost, F. Multon, Q. Li, W. Geng, R. Kulpa and G. Dumont
The International Journal of Virtual Reality (8-4), pp. 57-65, dec 2009

MotionLab: A Matlab toolbox for extracting and processing experimental motion capture data for neuromuscular simulations

A. Sandholm, N. Pronost and D. Thalmann
Proceedings of the Second 3D Physiological Human Workshop (3DPH) 2009, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (5903), dec 2009

Musculoskeletal simulation: from motion capture to muscular activity in lower limb models

N. Pronost and A. Sandholm
Tutorial of the Second 3D Physiological Human Workshop (3DPH) 2009, nov 2009

A subject-specific software solution for the modeling and the visualization of muscles deformations

X. Maurice, A. Sandholm, N. Pronost, R. Boulic and D. Thalmann
The Visual Computer (25-9), pp. 835-842, sep 2009

Interactive animation of virtual characters : application to virtual kung-fu fighting

N. Pronost, F. Multon, Q. Li, W. Geng, R. Kulpa and G. Dumont
Proceedings of International Conference on Cyberworlds 2008, Hangzhou - China, sep 2008

Intuitive motion retrieval with motion sensors

X. Liang, S. Zhang, Q. Li, N. Pronost, W. Geng and F. Multon
Proceedings of Computer Graphics International (CGI) 2008, Istanbul - Turkey, jun 2008

Techniques d'animation pour gérer les interactions entre un combattant virtuel et un sujet réel

N. Pronost, F. Multon, Q. Li, W. Geng, R. Kulpa and G. Dumont
2èmes Journées de l'AFRV, Marseille - France, oct 2007

Dynamics-based analysis and synthesis of human locomotion

N. Pronost and G. Dumont
The Visual Computer (23-7), pp. 513-522, jul 2007

Influences des adaptations morphologiques et cinématiques sur la dynamique des mouvements de locomotion

N. Pronost and G. Dumont
Revue Electronique Francophone d'Informatique Graphique REFIG (1-1), pp. 45-52, 2007

Définition et réalisation d'outils de modélisation et de calcul de mouvement pour des humanoïdes virtuels

N. Pronost
Ph.D thesis of University of Rennes 1, France, dec 2006

Validating retargeted and interpolated locomotions by dynamics-based analysis

N. Pronost and G. Dumont
Proceedings of GRAPHITE 2006 Conference, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia, pp. 65-74, dec 2006

Influences des adaptations morphologiques et cinématiques sur la dynamique des mouvements

N. Pronost and G. Dumont
19èmes Journées de l'AFIG, Bordeaux - France, 22-24 nov 2006

Validation de mouvements adaptés par analyse de la dynamique et squelette biomécanique

N. Pronost and G. Dumont
13èmes Journées du GTAS, Toulouse, 15-16 jun 2006

Morphological and stance interpolations in database for simulating bipedalism of virtual humans

N. Pronost, G. Dumont, G. Berillon and G. Nicolas
The Visual Computer (22-1), pp. 4-13, jan 2006

Combining morphological interpolation and biomechanical inverse kinematics to simulate bipedal locomotion

N. Pronost, G. Nicolas, G. Dumont and F. Multon
IASTED – Visualization, Imaging & Image Processing (VIIP) 2005 Conference, Benidorm - Spain, pp. 39-45, 7-9 sep 2005

Simulation d'une locomotion bipède par adaptation de mouvement et cinématique inverse

N. Pronost, G. Nicolas, G. Dumont, F. Multon and G. Berillon
11èmes Journées du GTAS, Reims, 17-18 jun 2004

Modélisation et calcul de mouvement pour l'humanoïde virtuel - Une application paléoanthropologique

N. Pronost
20ème Congrès Industriel de Belfort, Belfort-Montbéliard, 23-24 mar 2004

Interpolation morphologique et posturale pour la simulation de mouvement d'un humanoïde virtuel

N. Pronost
11èmes Journées des utilisateurs Vicon, Rennes, 19 mar 2004

Interpolation morphologique et posturale pour la simulation de mouvement d'un humanoïde virtuel

N. Pronost, G. Dumont and G. Berillon
16èmes Journées de l'AFIG, Paris, pp. 121-128, dec 2003