NEWTON, Massachusetts (Novemebr 12, 2003) -- Zoesis Studios today announces it has been awarded the second half of a two-year, $2 million Advanced Technology Program grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Advanced Technology Program funds innovative and novel technologies that are deemed to have potential for profound impact on the U.S. economy. Zoesis Studios received the second half of the grant after a review of the company’s progress to date in developing life-like, animated characters.

Specifically, Zoesis will use the award funds to continue developing, integrating, and testing the following digital arts projects:

• Creating advanced language understanding, language generation, and dialog management techniques to provide animated characters with conversational language abilities so they appear to deeply understand the user.
• Creating new speech technology for characters so they may speak naturally and with a wide range of emotional inflection without sounding repetitive.
• Creating computer animation techniques that make characters more physically expressive and human-like in appearance.
• Creating artificial intelligence techniques (planning and plan recognition) that make characters seem more intelligent.

Zoesis interactive characters developed with the ATP grant will be used for a new category of entertainment relating to computer games and interactive television content; greater productivity in advertising and sales; friendlier user interfaces; and better simulation and training tools for use in educational, industrial, and military contexts.

About Advanced Technology Program
The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is part of the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The ATP invests in risky, challenging technologies that have the potential to benefit the U.S. economy. ATP awards are made on the basis of rigorous peer-reviewed competitions. Selection criteria include a project's innovation and technical merit, its potential economic benefit to the nation, and the strength of its commercialization plan. Further information about ATP/NIST can be found at www.atp.nist.gov.

About Zoesis, Inc.
Zoesis is a highly advanced digital arts studio that uses proprietary cognitive science and artificial intelligence technology to deliver interactive characters in a completely new way.  Zoesis' technology allows users to experience an engaging and empowering two-way relationship with digital characters—creating a powerful and distinct entertainment genre. Simply stated, Zoesis creates sentient characters in responsive worlds where the consumer becomes the essential co-star.

Zoesis, located in Newton, Massachusetts, was launched in Pittsburgh in 1996 by a four-person computer science and fine arts research team from Carnegie Mellon University. The company moved to Boston in 1997, where it now develops its unique artificial intelligence-based entertainment technology for commercial use. Further information about Zoesis can be found at www.zoesis.com.