Animus

The Animus (Latin for "mind") is a machine, developed by Abstergo Industries, to read a subject's genetic memory, and, from it, create a simulation of the ancestor's life that the subject can interact with, "playing" as the ancestor.

Use
A subject lies on top of the Animus, placing his head in the intended location. A circular glass screen opens around his head. This screen serves as a display for the Animus's menus.

The subject selects a memory to play, and the Animus's simulation begins. The glass screen is not used for the simulation- it appears that the simulation is actually projected into the subject's head. The subject appears to control the character in the simulation by thought. The game manual hints that the Animus is controlled by a video game controller, but that is probably just be a bit of foolery to explain why they're writing the manual.

Synchronization
As the subject interacts with the simulation, his actions must remain Synchronized with those of his the ancestor whose memories are being reenacted. Important events in the ancestor's life must be recreated by the subject in the simulation. Failure to do so, or otherwise straying from the "path", will result in a loss of Synchronization. Too much Synchronization loss, and the entire simulation must restart from an earlier point.

Synchronization is measured by a bar on the top left of the HUD.

Genetic memory
Genetic memory is the accumulated memory of a person's ancestors, encoded in his DNA. While the theory is controversial in real life, it is evidently true in the Assassin's Creed world, as otherwise, the Animus would not work.

Physical characteristics
The animus is colored chrome, with blue lights in some places. On top of the Animus is a metallic bed, where the subject lies as his genetic memory is read. A computer under the bed runs a simulation of the subject's genetic memory. There is a glass screen that opens around the subject's head, to display the menus of the Animus.

The Animus releases a large amount of heat. At one point it apparently overheats, although this may have been a deliberate stall on Lucy's part. When it overheated, the blue lights began flashing orange instead.

In Assassin's Creed II
In the first gameplay trailer for Assassin's Creed II, it appears that the Animus has gone through major revisions. These appear to be the result of an upgrade to the Animus, or its software. In fact, it is an other Animus (2.0) than the Abstergo one which was kept in a modern Assassins' hideout.

When Ezio assassinates a target, the screen and HUD seem to 'melt' away to the death cutscene. The 'talk' scene is also different, as in the first game, the scene was an icy blue, but in the sequel, it appears to be a white color. The Animus's logo appears to have changed too. The first logo consisted of three lines coming together in the center. The new logo, as seen on the official website, is a Penrose triangle.

It also seems that the synchronization has been increased since Ezio has his own facial features (in spite of having the scar of Desmond) and an Italian accent unlike Altaïr in the first Animus who had the face of Desmond, and an American accent (though he sometimes spoke Arabic).



Trivia

 * The word Animus is Latin for mind.