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{{Featured}}
{{Featured}}
[[File:Animus.jpg|thumb|The Animus 1.0.|300px]]
{{quote|You're inside the Animus. It's a projector which renders genetic memories in three dimensions.|Vidic to Desmond}}
{{quote|You're inside the Animus. It's a projector which renders genetic memories in three dimensions.|Vidic to Desmond}}
The '''Animus''' 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==
{{spoiler}}
Initially developed by "[[Those Who Came Before]]", the Animus technology was re-discovered by the [[Knights Templar]] in an unknown year and subsequently re-developed for their own use. The technology underwent several stages of development and prototypes before a satisfactorily working model was created.


[[File:Animusart.jpg|thumb|400px|Animus 2.0 and 1.0 concept art.]]
The technology had been in use by the Templars at Abstergo Industries for a lengthy time by 2012 however, although after sixteen test subjects they had failed to achieve their aims.
The '''Animus''' (Latin for "mind" or "soul") 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.
{{spoiler End}}
===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 these machines, although their captive – [[Desmond Miles]] – initially believed there only to be one.


==Use==
Colored chrome, with blue lighting lining the machine in places, the Animus 1.0 resembled a bed, and was designed to comfortably fit the user. When in use, the Animus extended a glass panel 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. During overheating the blue lighting begins flashing orange instead.
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.
[[File:Animusart.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Animus 2.0 and 1.0 concept art.]]


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 as someone would in a dream, with thought only. The game manual hints that the Animus is controlled by a video game controller, but that is probably just a bit of foolery to explain why they're writing the manual.
===Animus 2.0===
{{Quote|This baby is twice as awesome as anything you'll find at Abstergo!|[[Rebecca Crane]]}}
The '''Animus 2.0''' was an upgraded model of Animus that had been developed by the [[Assassins]]' in 2012.  According to the Animus' developer and maintainer, [[Rebecca Crane]], her "Baby" is "twice as awesome" as the ones at Abstergo Industries. The Animus 2.0 is different in many ways to the Animus 1.0, both physically and inside the three-dimension reality it projects. 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 "load up".


===Synchronization===
The physical 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 and to project the genetic-memory. Despite these improvements, the Animus still suffers from laggy translation software and is unable to prevent the [[bleeding effect]] from prolonged use.
{{main|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.
[[Shaun Hastings]], a sarcastic historian and tactician for the Assassins in 2012 did posses the ability however to interact with the Animus remotely, and was able to upload information packets into the virtual display for the user to utilise.
[[File:Animus21.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Desmond Miles]] sits in the Animus 2.0.]]


===Genetic memory===
==Usability==
{{main|Genetic memory}}
{{Quote|When we switched the Animus control scheme to use standard videogame controls I guessed that the subject's the learning curve would improve, but the increased acclimatisation rate we're seeing with these slacker types is astounding.|[[Warren Vidic]]}}
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.


==Animus 1.0==
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.
[[File:Animus.jpg|thumb|The Animus 1.0.|300px]]
The '''Animus 1.0''' (or more precisely, 1.28) is the model of Animus Abstergo is using. It is the one appearing in the first ''Assassin's Creed'' and also appears at the beginning of ''Assassin's Creed II''. Abstergo possesses many of these Animi which can be seen while Lucy and Desmond escape the Abstergo building (Desmond even asks Lucy the plural term for the Animus).


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.
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. 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.


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.
===Heads-up display===
The Animus' heads-up display, or HUD, was a graphical interface that was projected ontop of the memories being viewed, ad was visable whilst the memries was being interacted with. The HUD provided the user with useful information such as their current level of synchronization, currently utilised armament, a birds-eye map of the local area, and a four-piece movement control scheme.


==Animus 2.0==
Utilising 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 targets, as well as their allies and enemies.
[[File:Penrose triangle.svg|thumb|left|150px|Animus 2.0 interface logo.]]
The '''Animus 2.0''' is the [[Assassins]]' own genetic memory reading machine in ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''. According to [[Rebecca Crane]] who is responsible for its conception and maintenance, her "Baby" is "twice as awesome" as the one seen in Abstergo. The Animus 2.0 is different in many ways from the Abstergo's one(s): the background color has changed from an icy blue to white. Also, when loading a memory sequence the whole map is shown being generated and at the contrary, when [[Ezio]] assassinates a target (conspirator), the environment seems to "melt" away to the death cutscene. The first logo was actually the [[Abstergo Industries]]' logo. The new logo, as seen on the [http://assassinscreed.us.ubi.com/assassins-creed-2/ official website], is a [http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_triangle Penrose triangle].
[[File:Animus21.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Desmond in the Animus 2.0.]]
It also seems that the synchronization has been increased since Ezio has an Italian accent unlike Altaïr in the first Animus who had an American accent (though he sometimes spoke Arabic). This has been hinted as part of the "bleeding" effect of an ancestor's mind blending with the descendant's, a problematic error in the first Animus - which led to the insanity and death of [[Subject 16]] - but became part of the controlled environment of the Animus 2.0 (however, Desmond does begin to hallucinate and starts to have weird dreams that seems like an Animus session, despite not actually being in the Animus).


In order to use the Animus 2.0, the subject must be uplinked via a cord inserted into the hand which is in fact, a DNA scanner device.
===Synchronization===
 
{{main|Synchronization}}
Despite the improvements over the original, its translator software is "a little laggy", which accounts for when the Italian characters speak Italian at various parts in the game.
As the user of the Animus was able to intereact with the enviroment 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 vain would lead to total de-synchronization; this in turn forced the user to reload the memory at an earlier point. The Animus was designed to put up barriers when the user attempted to interact with an environment the ancestor had not done so at that articular time in their life, and was also capable of ejecting the user in extreme cases of de-synchronization.
 
[[Shaun Hastings]], the sarcastic historian and tactician of the 2012 Assassins can provide Desmond with his database through the Animus 2.0.
 
{{spoiler}}
At the end of the story, when Abstergo finds the Assassins' hideout and attacks them, Rebecca and Shaun load the Animus 2.0 into a van while Lucy and Desmond hold the Templars and Vidic. After successfully blocking the assault, the Assassins flee the hideout with the van. Rebecca invites Desmond to use the Animus until they reach another hideout while Lucy reviews the tapes of the memory sequence. In fact, this last scene occurs with a black screen and we don't see the van nor the Animus, and we don't return from the memory world (which lets us constantly be in the Renaissance) until the next episode... (or the DLC containing the corrupted memory sequence files which has been skipped).
{{spoiler End}}
 
==Other Animus's==
During the escape from [[Abstergo]] [[Desmond]] walks in a room which contains a lot of chambers resembling office desk and inside them we can see Animus's (1.0) inside. It is unknown whether they are working, prototypes or simply replicas.


The Animus technology suffered from a major complication with regards to synchronization in all its models. After prolonged use the user begun to suffer from an affect known as the "bleeding effect", which blended the real-time and genetic memories of the user they were viewing. Whilst this in it self was not a problem, it often resulted in mental degredation of the Animus' user, and [[Subject Sixteen|in extreme cases]], total mental instability. however, the bleeding effect was not entirely negative in its affect on the user.


The bleeding effect allowed for the skills of the ancestor to seep through, granting the Animus' user access to said skills.


{{AC}}
{{AC}}
{{ACII}}
{{ACII}}
[[Category:Gameplay]]
[[Category:Gameplay]]

Revision as of 15:14, 24 December 2009

File:Animus.jpg
The Animus 1.0.
"You're inside the Animus. It's a projector which renders genetic memories in three dimensions."
―Vidic to Desmond

The Animus 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

Template:Spoiler Initially developed by "Those Who Came Before", the Animus technology was re-discovered by the Knights Templar in an unknown year and subsequently re-developed for their own use. The technology underwent several stages of development and prototypes before a satisfactorily working model was created.

The technology had been in use by the Templars at Abstergo Industries for a lengthy time by 2012 however, although after sixteen test subjects they had failed to achieve their aims. Template:Spoiler End

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 these machines, although their captive – Desmond Miles – initially believed there only to be one.

Colored chrome, with blue lighting lining the machine in places, the Animus 1.0 resembled a bed, and was designed to comfortably fit the user. When in use, the Animus extended a glass panel 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. During overheating the blue lighting begins flashing orange instead.

Animus 2.0 and 1.0 concept art.

Animus 2.0

"This baby is twice as awesome as anything you'll find at Abstergo!"
Rebecca Crane

The Animus 2.0 was an upgraded model of Animus that had been developed by the Assassins' in 2012. According to the Animus' developer and maintainer, Rebecca Crane, her "Baby" is "twice as awesome" as the ones at Abstergo Industries. The Animus 2.0 is different in many ways to the Animus 1.0, both physically and inside the three-dimension reality it projects. 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 "load up".

The physical 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 and to project the genetic-memory. Despite these improvements, the Animus still suffers from laggy translation software and is unable to prevent the bleeding effect from prolonged use.

Shaun Hastings, a sarcastic historian and tactician for the Assassins in 2012 did posses the ability however to interact with the Animus remotely, and was able to upload information packets into the virtual display for the user to utilise.

File:Animus21.jpg
Desmond Miles sits in the Animus 2.0.

Usability

"When we switched the Animus control scheme to use standard videogame controls I guessed that the subject's the learning curve would improve, but the increased acclimatisation rate we're seeing with these slacker types is astounding."
Warren Vidic

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.

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. 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.

Heads-up display

The Animus' heads-up display, or HUD, was a graphical interface that was projected ontop of the memories being viewed, ad was visable whilst the memries was being interacted with. The HUD provided the user with useful information such as their current level of synchronization, currently utilised armament, a birds-eye map of the local area, and a four-piece movement control scheme.

Utilising 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 targets, as well as their allies and enemies.

Synchronization

Main article: Synchronization

As the user of the Animus was able to intereact with the enviroment 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 vain would lead to total de-synchronization; this in turn forced the user to reload the memory at an earlier point. The Animus was designed to put up barriers when the user attempted to interact with an environment the ancestor had not done so at that articular time in their life, and was also capable of ejecting the user in extreme cases of de-synchronization.

The Animus technology suffered from a major complication with regards to synchronization in all its models. After prolonged use the user begun to suffer from an affect known as the "bleeding effect", which blended the real-time and genetic memories of the user they were viewing. Whilst this in it self was not a problem, it often resulted in mental degredation of the Animus' user, and in extreme cases, total mental instability. however, the bleeding effect was not entirely negative in its affect on the user.

The bleeding effect allowed for the skills of the ancestor to seep through, granting the Animus' user access to said skills.