Perceptual Study on Facial Expressions

Abstract

Facial expressions play a paramount role in character animation since they reveal much of a person's emotions and intentions. Although animation techniques have become more sophisticated over time, there is still need for knowledge in terms of what behavior appears emotionally convincing and believable. The present chap-ter examines how motion contributes to the perception and interpretation of facial expressions. This includes a description of the early beginnings in research on facial motion and more recent work, pointing toward a dynamic advantage in facial expression recognition. Attention is further drawn to the potential charac-teristics (i.e., directionality and speed) that facilitate such dynamic advantage. This is followed by a review on how facial motion affects perception and behavior more generally, with the neural systems that underlie the processing of dynamic emotions. The chapter concludes by discussing remaining challenges and future directions for the animation of natural occurring emotional expressions in dynamic faces.