Lucy Stillman and Desmond Miles in the Animus Chamber.
- "You're inside the Animus. It's a projector which renders genetic memories in three dimensions."
- ―Warren Vidic to Desmond.[src]
The Animus (plural: Animi) was a virtual-reality machine, re-discovered and developed by Abstergo Industries, to read a subject's genetic memory and project it on to an external screen in three dimensions.
History
The Animus 1.28.
Initially developed by Those Who Came Before,[1] the Animus technology was re-discovered by the Templars in an unknown year, and subsequently re-developed for their own use.[2]
The technology underwent several stages of development and prototypes before a satisfactorily working model was created, although by 2012, the technology had still not been perfected.[2]
The technology had been in use by the Templars at Abstergo Industries for a lengthy time (since before 1985) by 2012; however, even after sixteen test subjects, they had yet to achieve their goals.[2]
Animus 1.0
The Animus 1.0 (or more precisely, 1.28) was the first model of Animus to be created, by Abstergo Industries and enter actual use. Abstergo Industries possessed an unknown number of Animi,[1] though their seventeenth captive, Desmond Miles, initially believed there to be only one.[2] During his escape, however, he discovered there to be at least one large room full of the devices.[1]
Colored chrome, with blue lighting lining the machine, the Animus 1.0 resembled a bed, and was designed to comfortably fit the user. When in use, the Animus extended a glass panel over and around the head of the user, on which the genetic memories being accessed were projected. The Animus 1.0 was not very energy-efficient, however, and was prone to overheating after extended use. Upon overheating, the blue lighting flashed orange instead.[2]
Animus 2.0
Animus 2.0 and 1.0 concept art.
- "This baby is twice as awesome as anything you'll find at Abstergo!"
- ―Rebecca Crane[src]
The Animus 2.0 was an upgraded model of the Animus that had been developed by the Assassins in 2012. According to the Animus developer and maintainer, Rebecca Crane, her "Baby" was much better than the ones at Abstergo Industries. The Animus 2.0 was different in many ways to the Animus 1.0, both physically and within the three-dimension reality it projected. For example, the background color has changed from an icy blue to white, whilst during loading of a memory sequence, the entire region said memories took place in is seen to slowly load up.[1]
The external properties of the Animus have also changed greatly, with the 2.0 being an actual chair, offering increased comfort to the user. However, due to this, a catheter is required to link the user into the Animus' hard-drives through the subject's arm, in order to project the genetic-memory. Despite these improvements, the Animus still suffers from lagged translation software, and is unable to prevent the bleeding effect from prolonged use.[1]
The new model of Animus allowed for remote interaction from an outside source, which included uploading database-like information packets for the user to view. During Desmond's time with the Assassins in 2012, Shaun Hastings, a historian and tactician for the Assassins, made great use of this utility, providing countless files on historical figures and locations.[1]
Usability
Desmond Miles in the Animus 2.0.
- "When we switched the Animus control scheme to use standard videogame controls, I guessed that the subject's learning curve would improve; but the increased acclimatization rate we're seeing with these slacker types is astounding."
- ―Warren Vidic.[src]
The Animus was developed by Abstergo Industries to be user-friendly, although at first, they found their test subjects to have difficulty in adapting to their control scheme. Subsequently, they changed the control scheme to match that of games consoles projected into the users' mind, which improved the user response rate and allowed for quicker adoption of the control scheme.[3]
Despite their core of the technology merely allowing the user to view genetic memories encoded into their DNA, the Animus allowed the user a degree of interaction with the environment they were viewing.[2][1] Although this was limited in the Abstergo model, the level of interaction increased greatly in the Animus 2.0, allowing the user to choose the pace at which they progressed through the memories.[1]
Heads-up display
The Animus' heads-up display, or HUD, was a graphical interface that was projected on top of the memories being viewed, and was visible whilst the memories were being interacted with. The HUD provided the user with useful information, such as their current level of synchronization, currently utilized armament, a birds-eye map of the local area, and a four-piece movement control scheme.[2]
Utilizing the HUD, the user was able to monitor their progress and interact with the environment at their own pace. It also offered the user a way of tracking the ancestor's targets, as well as their allies and enemies.[2]
Synchronization
- Main article: Synchronization
As the user of the Animus was able to interact with the environment in which he was viewing, the concept of synchronization was brought into play. Failure to follow the memories of an ancestor exactly often resulted in a temporary decrease in synchronization with said ancestor, and continual actions in this vein would lead to total desynchronization. This in turn forced the user to reload the memory from an earlier point.[2] The Animus was designed to put up barriers when the user attempted to interact with an environment the ancestor had not entered at that particular moment in their life, and was also capable of ejecting the user in extreme cases of desynchronization.[2][1]
The Animus technology suffered from a major complication with regards to synchronization in all its models. Prolonged use caused a condition known as the "bleeding effect", which blended the real-time and genetic memories of the user, transferring thoughts, skills and experiences from the ancestor to the descendant.[2] Prolonged use without cool-down periods often resulted in mental degradation of the subject, and in extreme cases, total mental instability.[2][1]
Behind the Scenes
In Assassin's Creed, the Animus acts only as a machine and plot element, allowing Desmond to play through Altaïr's memories the same way the player controls Desmond himself. In Assassin's Creed II, its use was expanded. The Animus became an interface to a new world, including information about the historical locations, people, and time periods. It was developed as a modular tool, allowing the game developers to explore any aspect, be it additional memories, multiplayer or other content. In an interview for IncGamers, producer Sebastien Puel said:
"This franchise has a lot of potential. The Animus allows us to do anything we want, whether it's talking about multi-player, whether it's talking about additional missions, whether it's talking about additional content - whatever it is, the Animus is a perfect tool for that."[4]
Video
thumb|300px|left|Warren Vidic explains how the Animus works.
Trivia
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The Animus in 2000.
- In the Animus 1.28, sprinting long enough during the interactive loading sequence will rid the Animus of the random bits of data flickering around, showing only a blue, foggy expanse. Additionally, Altaïr can hit an invisible barrier.
- While replaying memory blocks in Assassin's Creed, an unusual red-beige tinted abnormality shows itself for one frame as the memory is initiated. This is the inside of Desmond's face, as the camera for the initiation sequence is shown in 3 ways: starting back and moving forward, starting front and moving backwards, and upside-down. When the camera moves slightly backwards, it glitches into Desmond's face. His eyebrows, nose, and lips are easily seen if the screen is frozen.
- Once a player completes the main storyline of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the option to leave the Animus is removed from the main menu due to Desmond's now comatose state.
- A different and older design of the Animus, used by Daniel Cross, is present in Assassin's Creed: The Fall. The main design is reminiscent to a lounge chair, with a metal visor installed at the top, along with several metal panels attached to the back.
Notes and References
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