2,253 research outputs found
Considerations for believable emotional facial expression animation
Facial expressions can be used to communicate emotional states through the use of universal signifiers within key regions of the face. Psychology research has identified what these signifiers are and how different combinations and variations can be interpreted. Research into expressions has informed animation practice, but as yet very little is known about the movement within and between emotional expressions. A better understanding of sequence, timing, and duration could better inform the production of believable animation. This paper introduces the idea of expression choreography, and how tests of observer perception might enhance our understanding of moving emotional expressions
An Investigation Into the Creative Processes in Generating Believable Photorealistic Film Characters
New measures for witnesses: are they performing as anticipated?
The route of the witness through the criminal justice system, from identification to testimony, has always been fraught with difficulty. There are innumerable sources of influence, intimidation and manipulation which can affect a witnessâs performance at any point on this pathway. In recent years, and in an effort to resolve several of the issues surrounding witness performance, the British Government have introduced a number of legislative measures to improve performance at identity parades and enhance the court experience of vulnerable witnesses and thereby improve the quality of their testimony. While it seems that these measures have been generally well received, there remain some valid questions over their implementation and whether they are eliciting the desired effects.
The sequential identity parade system, V.I.P.E.R. was devised primarily as a cost-cutting procedural change by West Yorkshire Police in 1999. However, V.I.P.E.R.âs design was heavily influenced by the large extant literature declaring a sequential superiority effect for target absent parades. Specifically, the data claim that sequential identity parades significantly reduce the rate of false identifications from target absent parades whilst preserving hit rates for target present parades. Yet all of the studies purporting this effect have used a very different procedure to that employed by V.I.P.E.R.; these studies use, and recommend, a strict sequential procedure whilst UK legislation requires V.I.P.E.R. parades to be shown twice. Thus the effects of using a V.I.P.E.R. parade upon rates of identification and misidentifications have yet to be empirically investigated. The results of this study revealed that there was no significant effect of parade presentation mode upon rates of correct identifications for target present parades or the rate of mistaken identifications in target absent parades.
The next step for many witnesses is the progression of their case to trial. The incidence of intimidation and vulnerability of adult witnesses appears to be increasing and so a range of Special Measures, more commonly used with child witnesses, were extended to adult witnesses who meet legislative criteria. However, there again has been no investigation into the effects the use of the Special Measures for adult witnesses has upon jurors âperceptions of that witness, the defendant and, if there is a change in perceptions, whether they are substantive enough to alter the trial verdict. The current experiments revealed that the use of a screen does not significantly alter jurorsâ perceptions and had no effect on conviction rates. The use of live CCTV links led the witness to be perceived as less credible but again this did not affect the verdict. It is the use of pre-recorded video evidence which raises the most concern; witnesses testifying in this manner are perceived as significantly less credible and believable which in turn has a significant effect upon conviction rates. However, when tested in a deliberating jury group situation, all the Special Measures were associated with the witness being perceived as more credible compared to the control condition, although these differences were not significant, and there was no significant effect upon the rate of guilty verdicts across all conditions.
Overall, it appears that the implementation of both of these legislative steps have had varying degrees of success. While the V.I.P.E.R. identity parade procedure has reduced running costs it appears that there are no significant differences between V.I.P.E.R. and simultaneous procedures for either target present or target absent identity parades. Conversely, it appears that the introduction of the Special Measures for vulnerable adult witnesses has been largely well received and tentatively successful in reducing witness anxiety. The data suggest that there are no significant negative effects associated with using these Special Measures, certainly under the more ecologically valid condition of the deliberating jury group. Nevertheless, a series of policy recommendations have been made for both identity parade and testimony procedures with the aim of further enhancing the witnessâs performance and experience through the criminal justice system
The inaccuracy and insincerity of real faces
Since conversation is a central human activity, the synthesis of proper conversational behavior for Virtual Humans will become a critical issue. Facial expressions represent a critical part of interpersonal communication. Even with the most sophisticated, photo-realistic head model, an avatar who's behavior is unbelievable or even uninterpretable will be an inefficient or possibly counterproductive conversational partner. Synthesizing expressions can be greatly aided by a detailed description of which facial motions are perceptually necessary and sufficient. Here, we recorded eight core expressions from six trained individuals using a method-acting approach. We then psychophysically determined how recognizable and believable those expressions were. The results show that people can identify these expressions quite well, although there is some systematic confusion between particular expressions. The results also show that people found the expressions to be less than convincing. The pattern of confusions and believability ratings demonstrates that there is considerable variation in natural expressions and that even real facial expressions are not always understood or believed. Moreover, the results provide the ground work necessary to begin a more fine-grained analysis of the core components of these expressions. As some initial results from a model-based manipulation of the image sequences shows, a detailed description of facial expressions can be an invaluable aid in the synthesis of unambiguous and believable Virtual Humans
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Procedural animation: towards studio solutions for believability
This thesis sets out to investigate the understanding of the relationship between key-frame movement performances and procedural animation. It is geared towards building a theory of practice that would help develop a succinct method for generating believable character animation using procedural animation. This research places an emphasis on a practical aproach to the theory of animation and movement, and investigates the historical development of character animation and the notion of believability. It uses Laban Movement Analysis as a method in the application of procedural animation. The study seeks to address the following objectives: (1) To examine what areas of procedural animation may enhance the believability of a key-framed movement performance; (2) To identify the areas of procedural animation that are or could be used within professional studio practice; (3) To examine the potential of procedural animation to help develop convincing and life-like character movements; (4) To identify where and how a keyframed character movement can be enhanced procedurally; (5) To carry out empirical studies in order to analyse the effects and possible benefits of procedural enhancements on a key-framed movement
Does facial physiognomy in the context of anoccupational safety and health message predict outcomes?
Physiognomy, the practice of looking to another personâs outward facial appearance to unmask the inner character of that person, has had a diverse historical impact within art, medicine, theology, anthropology, law, criminology, political history, psychology, psychiatry, and popular culture, since it was conceptualised in Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C (Physiognomy, 1999-2009, 2009a). Aristotle, the prominent Greek philosopher, penned many chapters on physiognomic properties and touched upon strength/weakness, genius/stupidity, and other trait characteristics and their opposites in so far as such characteristics were associated with facial form (Physiognomy, 2006, 2009b).
In more modern times, facial recognition and evaluation of faces is seen as a function of evolution that has significance with regard to approach/avoidance behaviour (Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008). These authors found that evaluation of emotionally neutral faces can be explained by judgements of two traits, facial trustworthiness and facial dominance, and that these traits can be related to the facial expressions for happy and angry, respectively. Evidence from advertising, psychological, and neurobiological experiments show that facial physiognomy, the concept that a personâs character can be revealed from their facial features, influences cognitive and emotional judgements. The belief is that people possess the ability to read the character of another person from facial expressions and facial appearance. People make trait judgements based on facial physiognomy (Highfield, Wiseman, & Jenkins, 2009). The exploration of facial physiognomy is an ever increasing endeavour, particularly when people make social judgements to infer another personâs ability to harm or the ability to cause harm (Oosterhof & Toderov, 2009; Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008).
In this mixed method study, computer software was used to morph the facial physiognomy of an endorser, actor, model or spokesperson as shown in the context of an occupational safety and health promotional message. This study endeavoured to establish to what extent facial presentation, and the evaluation thereof, influences the effectiveness of health promotional images. Five versions of facial physiognomy were explored along trustworthy/untrustworthy and dominant/passive dimensions. The advertising believability scale was utilised as a primary measure of advertisement validity (Beltramini, 1988). For comparison purposes Ohanianâs (1990) source-credibility scale for evaluating endorser attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise was also utilised as a measuring instrument. Endorser dominance was measured with the perceived dominance scale (Manusov, 2005). Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews to analyse the process of endorser selection. Transcribed interviews were coded and thematically analysed. These data were considered particularly useful to inform the creative strategy of marketing professionals in the development of visual domain advertising. Quantitative data was collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire designed to measure recall of a safety message, agreement with the message, the likelihood of practicing the behaviours presented in the message, and belief of the information presented in the message. Quantitative data were analysed utilising descriptive statistics, advanced parametric statistics, tables, figures and graphs. Data from both qualitative and quantitative sources were compared and interpreted as a whole; juxtaposed against underlying theory. This study contributes new knowledge to occupational safety and health promotion by examining endorser facial graphics in creative artwork and gauging messages effectiveness in light of the facial representation. The research has utility for academics, advertising, marketing, health promotion, and occupational safety and health practitioners involved in the development of promotional materials through evidence-based practices, endorser selection, image enhancement, and advertising awareness. An original and significant contribution will be made to the occupational safety and health literature
From surround to true 3-D
To progress from surround sound to true 3-D requires an updating of the psychoacoustical theories which underlie current technologies. This paper shows how J.J.Gibsonâs ecological approach to perception can be applied to audio perception and used to derive 3-D audio technologies based on intelligent pattern recognition and active hypothesis testing. These technologies are suggested as methods which can be used to generate audio environments that are believable and can be explored
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