About
Hi, I’m Magzhan
I am a Ph.D. student in Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University researching embodied virtual agents, behavioral animation, and human-computer interaction.
My research explores how virtual humans communicate personality, emotion, and social behavior through movement, appearance, and animated performance. I am particularly interested in how subtle motion cues — such as gesture size, timing, posture, and facial behavior — influence human perception of virtual characters.
I work extensively with Unreal Engine, MetaHumans, motion capture systems, and conversational AI pipelines to develop interactive embodied agents and experimental animation systems.
Current Research
My current work focuses on:
- Personality expression in virtual humans
- Familiarity and trust in embodied agents
- Behavioral animation systems
- Motion perception and social cues
- Conversational MetaHuman agents
- Gesture generation and procedural animation
Research Approach
My projects combine:
- Animation and virtual character design
- Empirical perception studies
- Human-computer interaction methods
- AI-driven conversational systems
- Motion capture and procedural animation workflows
I am especially interested in bridging animation practice with scientific evaluation to better understand how people perceive and interact with virtual agents.
Selected Projects
### Personality & Gesture Research Exploring how affective gestures and behavioral motion influence emotional perception in animated pedagogical agents.
### Virtual Character Believability Studying how body shape, voice, and behavioral appearance affect perceived believability and correspondence in virtual humans.