Abstract

A system for providing randomly-accessible animated objects having synchronous audio and visual features suitable for use as an education system or video entertainment system is provided. The speech sounds and the associated visual and behavioral characteristics of language are broken into their constituent parts to produce encoded communication patterns and characteristics associated with speech. In response to coded input signal representing speech sounds or combinations of a speechsounds forming words, a coded model is constructed including a voice and animated visual image having synchronized audio and associated visual characteristics to speak the sound or words which were input. A user is presented with a viewing screen having several rows of what are perceived to be domino-like tiles each inscribed with one or more letters. An animated character including a talking head is also displayed on the screen. The user selects tiles with a mouse or other input device and moves the tiles about the screen to form words or other combinations of letters. As a tile is selected, the animated character pronounces the name and sound of the letter inscribed on the tile. When words are formed, the animated character pronounces the words or the sound of the character combinations formed.