Animus

"You're inside the Animus. It's a projector which renders genetic memories in three dimensions."

―Warren Vidic to Desmond Miles.

File:Animus.jpg

The Animus 1.28.

The Animus (plural: Animi) was a virtual-reality machine, re-discovered and developed by Abstergo Industries. It was able to read a subject's genetic memory, and project it onto an external screen in three dimensions.

The machine was used in the company's Animus Project, in which several subjects' memories were analyzed for a variety of reasons; including gathering information on the Assassin Order or Pieces of Eden, and training Abstergo recruits.

History

Initially developed by the First Civilization, the original Animus technology was re-discovered by the Templars in an unknown year, and subsequently re-developed for their own use.

Guided by theories devised by Dr. Warren Vidic, the machine underwent several stages of development and prototypes before a satisfactorily working model was created. However, by 2012, the technology had still not been perfected.

The machine was used in Abstergo as early as 1985; however, even after sixteen test subjects, they had yet to achieve their goals.

Animus 1.0

Desmond Miles using the Animus in an Abstergo laboratory.

The Animus 1.0 (or more precisely, 1.28) was the first model of Animus to be created by Abstergo and enter actual use. Abstergo possessed an unknown number of Animi; with some kept individually in laboratories, and with at least one large room full of the devices.

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.

Animus 2.0

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

―Rebecca Crane, speaking of her Animus.

Rebecca introducing Desmond to her Animus.

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. She had started developing it with partial schematics sent by Lucy Stillman, the Assassins' spy at Abstergo, and had improvised the rest.

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 of the loading sequence changed from an icy blue to white, with the entire region of a memory slowly loading up each time one was accessed.

File:Ac desmond.jpg

Desmond in the Animus 2.0.

The external properties of the Animus also changed greatly, with the 2.0 being an actual chair, and offering increased comfort to the user. However, due to this, a catheter in the user's arm was required, in order to access genetic memories, and link the user into the Animus itself. Despite these improvements, the Animus still suffered from lagged translation software, and was unable to prevent the Bleeding effect over prolonged use.

The new Animus model 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.

The Animus 2.0 was also used as a life support system for Desmond after he had fallen into a coma, as his consciousness was threatened by the Bleeding effect. At this time, Clay Kaczmarek took over writing the Animus database articles.

Animus 3.0

Upon waking from his comatose state, Desmond entered the Animus 3.0 to relive the memories of yet another of his ancestors. Similarly to as he did with the Animus 2.0, Shaun continued to write database entries for him in the new Animus system.

By then, the Animus' software had also been upgraded to possess a new visual style.

Usability

"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.

At first, Abstergo found their test subjects having difficulty adapting to the Animus control scheme. Thus, they changed the controls to match that of gaming consoles projected into the users' mind, significantly improving the user response rate, and allowing for quicker adoption.

Despite the core of the technology merely allowing the user to view genetic memories encoded into their DNA, the Animus also 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.

Synchronization

Main article: Synchronization

File:Sync-meter.png

The Animus 2.0's meter depicting its user's synchronization with an ancestor.

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 continuing such actions would lead to complete desynchronization. This in turn forced the user to reload the memory from an earlier point.

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.

Side effects

Main article: Bleeding effect

Use of any variant of the Animus technology was prone to cause mental instability with its users. 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.

Continued and uninterrupted use of the Animus often resulted in mental degradation of the subject, and in extreme cases, total psychological instability.

Behind the Scenes

Animus 2.0 and 1.0 concept art.

In Assassin's Creed, the Animus acts only as a machine and plot element, allowing Desmond to play through Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad'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."

Trivia

The Animus in 2000.

• "Animus" is a Latin term referring to "the mind" in a variety of senses; ranging from the intellect, the will, or the soul.
• 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.
• The Animus 1.28 has made an appearance in every main game so far, seeing as they are used in the multiplayer mode for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

Gallery

thumb|300px|left|Warren Vidic explains how the Animus works.

Notes and References

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