A 3D parametric tongue model for animated speech

Abstract

We present a tongue model for use in computer-animated speech. The model is capable of representing tongue shapes during the production of English vowels and consonants as well as general motion of the tongue. Geometrically, the model is composed of a B-spline surface with 60 control points and an 8 × 13 grid of bi-cubic patches. We also present a parameterization of the model that requires only six parameters for use during speech production. This parameterization can also be used to define the deformation of other tongue models. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.