Open AccessLaughter and smiling facial expression modelling for the generation of virtual affective behavior
Author(s) -
Miquel Mascaró,
Francisco J. Serón,
F. Perales,
Javier Varona,
Ramon Mas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0251057
Subject(s) - laughter , facial expression , computer science , generalization , expression (computer science) , character (mathematics) , virtual actor , human–computer interaction , speech recognition , artificial intelligence , virtual reality , psychology , mathematics , mathematical analysis , geometry , neuroscience , programming language
Laughter and smiling are significant facial expressions used in human to human communication. We present a computational model for the generation of facial expressions associated with laughter and smiling in order to facilitate the synthesis of such facial expressions in virtual characters. In addition, a new method to reproduce these types of laughter is proposed and validated using databases of generic and specific facial smile expressions. In particular, a proprietary database of laugh and smile expressions is also presented. This database lists the different types of classified and generated laughs presented in this work. The generated expressions are validated through a user study with 71 subjects, which concluded that the virtual character expressions built using the presented model are perceptually acceptable in quality and facial expression fidelity. Finally, for generalization purposes, an additional analysis shows that the results are independent of the type of virtual character’s appearance.