Ragdolls with a brain

Naturalmotion’s Endorphin is a very interesting advance in the procedural generation of motion data. Promoted as the “first Virtual Motion Capture Studio”, Endorphin uses technology based on Oxford University’s research on the control of human and animal body motions.

It builds a physical, biomechanically-realistic model of a character (e.g.
a human or a dinosaur), implants an appropriate brain structure
(usually a neural network), and uses optimisation techniques (such as
artificial evolution) to create the desired behaviour. The
result is a characters that performs active behaviours, it can sense
and react to the environment. More information and sample movies at Naturalmotion.com.