Face modeling and animation language for MPEG-4 XMT framework

This paper proposes FML, an XML-based face modeling and animation language. FML provides a structured content description method for multimedia presentations based on face animation. The language can be used as direct input to compatible players, or be compiled within MPEG-4 XMT framework to create MPEG-4 presentations. The language allows parallel and sequential action description, decision-making and dynamic event-based scenarios, model configuration, and behavioral template definition. Facial actions include talking, expressions, head movements, and low-level MPEG-4 FAPs. The ShowFace and iFACE animation frameworks are also reviewed as example FML-based animation systems

Look me in the eyes: A survey of eye and gaze animation for virtual agents and artificial systems

International audienceA person's emotions and state of mind are apparent in their face and eyes. As a Latin proverb states: "The face is the portrait of the mind; the eyes, its informers.". This presents a huge challenge for computer graphics researchers in the generation of artificial entities that aim to replicate the movement and appearance of the human eye, which is so important in human-human interactions. This State of the Art Report provides an overview of the efforts made on tackling this challenging task. As with many topics in Computer Graphics, a cross-disciplinary approach is required to fully understand the workings of the eye in the transmission of information to the user. We discuss the movement of the eyeballs, eyelids, and the head from a physiological perspective and how these movements can be modelled, rendered and animated in computer graphics applications. Further, we present recent research from psychology and sociology that seeks to understand higher level behaviours, such as attention and eye-gaze, during the expression of emotion or during conversation, and how they are synthesised in Computer Graphics and Robotics

Affective Communication for Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

Research on affective communication for socially assistive robots has been conducted to enable physical robots to perceive, express, and respond emotionally. However, the use of affective computing in social robots has been limited, especially when social robots are designed for children, and especially those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social robots are based on cognitiveaffective models, which allow them to communicate with people following social behaviors and rules. However, interactions between a child and a robot may change or be different compared to those with an adult or when the child has an emotional deficit. In this study, we systematically reviewed studies related to computational models of emotions for children with ASD. We used the Scopus, WoS, Springer, and IEEE-Xplore databases to answer different research questions related to the definition, interaction, and design of computational models supported by theoretical psychology approaches from 1997 to 2021. Our review found 46 articles; not all the studies considered children or those with ASD.This research was funded by VRIEA-PUCV, grant number 039.358/202

Chief Justice Leadership: A Brief Sketch of Its Landscape, Structure, and Operation

This article examines chief justice leadership of the United States Supreme Court during the judicial decision-making process and develops a model of such leadership in three distinct parts: landscape, structure, and operation. The landscape consists of five interactive stages in the judicial decision-making process: certiorari, oral argument, conference, majority opinion assignment, and opinion drafting. Structurally, three prevailing conditions on the Court create a “democratic default”: life tenure, equal vote, and free voice. In terms of operation, the office employs small-group leadership and its twin pillars of task and social leadership in conjunction with behavioral leadership and its three types of leadership (autocratic, laissez-faire, and democratic). To highlight both small-group and behavioral leadership in action, case studies on Chief Justices Marshall, Stone, and Warren are briefly described. While no one leadership style is exclusively employed, the contours of chief justice leadership are chiefly social and democratic, making these leadership forms dominant. As such, the key finding of this paper is that, in order to successfully lead the court, the chief justice must be just as good a political negotiator as a competent legal judge

An Emergent Framework For Realistic Psychosocial Behaviour In Non Player Characters

This paper introduces a framework for emergent psychosocial behaviour in non player characters in video games. This framework uses concepts behind emergent gameplay to support the mechanics of designer-defined psychological and social concepts, undefined circumstances, and emergence. Based on this framework, a prototype system has been developed. This prototype has been evaluated for realistic emergent behaviour, and has been shown through experimentation to succeed in supporting emergent psychosocial behaviour. The work to date on the framework is encouraging and quite promising for continued work in this area in the future