Facial Modelling and animation trends in the new millennium : a survey

M.Sc (Computer Science)Facial modelling and animation is considered one of the most challenging areas in the animation world. Since Parke and Waters’s (1996) comprehensive book, no major work encompassing the entire field of facial animation has been published. This thesis covers Parke and Waters’s work, while also providing a survey of the developments in the field since 1996. The thesis describes, analyses, and compares (where applicable) the existing techniques and practices used to produce the facial animation. Where applicable, the related techniques are grouped in the same chapter and described in a chronological fashion, outlining their differences, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The thesis is concluded by exploratory work towards a talking head for Northern Sotho. Facial animation and lip synchronisation of a fragment of Northern Sotho is done by using software tools primarily designed for English.Computin

Animation of a hierarchical image based facial model and perceptual analysis of visual speech

In this Thesis a hierarchical image-based 2D talking head model is presented, together with robust automatic and semi-automatic animation techniques, and a novel perceptual method for evaluating visual-speech based on the McGurk effect. The novelty of the hierarchical facial model stems from the fact that sub-facial areas are modelled individually. To produce a facial animation, animations for a set of chosen facial areas are first produced, either by key-framing sub-facial parameter values, or using a continuous input speech signal, and then combined into a full facial output. Modelling hierarchically has several attractive qualities. It isolates variation in sub-facial regions from the rest of the face, and therefore provides a high degree of control over different facial parts along with meaningful image based animation parameters. The automatic synthesis of animations may be achieved using speech not originally included in the training set. The model is also able to automatically animate pauses, hesitations and non-verbal (or non-speech related) sounds and actions. To automatically produce visual-speech, two novel analysis and synthesis methods are proposed. The first method utilises a Speech-Appearance Model (SAM), and the second uses a Hidden Markov Coarticulation Model (HMCM) - based on a Hidden Markov Model (HMM). To evaluate synthesised animations (irrespective of whether they are rendered semi automatically, or using speech), a new perceptual analysis approach based on the McGurk effect is proposed. This measure provides both an unbiased and quantitative method for evaluating talking head visual speech quality and overall perceptual realism. A combination of this new approach, along with other objective and perceptual evaluation techniques, are employed for a thorough evaluation of hierarchical model animations.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Animation of a hierarchical image based facial model and perceptual analysis of visual speech

In this Thesis a hierarchical image-based 2D talking head model is presented, together with robust automatic and semi-automatic animation techniques, and a novel perceptual method for evaluating visual-speech based on the McGurk effect. The novelty of the hierarchical facial model stems from the fact that sub-facial areas are modelled individually. To produce a facial animation, animations for a set of chosen facial areas are first produced, either by key-framing sub-facial parameter values, or using a continuous input speech signal, and then combined into a full facial output. Modelling hierarchically has several attractive qualities. It isolates variation in sub-facial regions from the rest of the face, and therefore provides a high degree of control over different facial parts along with meaningful image based animation parameters. The automatic synthesis of animations may be achieved using speech not originally included in the training set. The model is also able to automatically animate pauses, hesitations and non-verbal (or non-speech related) sounds and actions. To automatically produce visual-speech, two novel analysis and synthesis methods are proposed. The first method utilises a Speech-Appearance Model (SAM), and the second uses a Hidden Markov Coarticulation Model (HMCM) - based on a Hidden Markov Model (HMM). To evaluate synthesised animations (irrespective of whether they are rendered semi automatically, or using speech), a new perceptual analysis approach based on the McGurk effect is proposed. This measure provides both an unbiased and quantitative method for evaluating talking head visual speech quality and overall perceptual realism. A combination of this new approach, along with other objective and perceptual evaluation techniques, are employed for a thorough evaluation of hierarchical model animations

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

Proceedings of the 5th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2004)

The proceedings of the conferenc

Building information modeling – A game changer for interoperability and a chance for digital preservation of architectural data?

Digital data associated with the architectural design-andconstruction process is an essential resource alongside -and even past- the lifecycle of the construction object it describes. Despite this, digital architectural data remains to be largely neglected in digital preservation research – and vice versa, digital preservation is so far neglected in the design-and-construction process. In the last 5 years, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has seen a growing adoption in the architecture and construction domains, marking a large step towards much needed interoperability. The open standard IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) is one way in which data is exchanged in BIM processes. This paper presents a first digital preservation based look at BIM processes, highlighting the history and adoption of the methods as well as the open file format standard IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) as one way to store and preserve BIM data

Low Cost Video For Distance Education

A distance education system has been designed for Nova Southeastern University (NSU) . The design was based on emerging low cost video technology. The report presented the design and summarizes existing distance education efforts and technologies. The design supported multimedia electronic classrooms, and enabled students to participate in multimedia classes using standard telephone networks. Results were presented in three areas: management, courseware, and, systems. In the area of management, the report recommended that the University separately establish, fund, and staff the distance education project. Supporting rationale was included. In the area of courseware, the importance of quality courseware was highlighted. It was found that the development of distance education courseware was difficult; nevertheless, quality courseware was the key to a successful distance education program. In the area of systems, component level designs were presented for a student system, a university host, and a support system. Networks connecting the systems were addressed. The student system was based on widely available multimedia systems. The host system supported up to sixteen participants in a single class. The support system was designed for the development of courseware and the support of future projects in distance education. The report included supporting Proof of Principle demonstrations. These demonstrations showed that low cost video systems had utility at speeds as low as 7. 2 kbps. They also showed that high quality student images were not crucial to the system. The report included three alternate implementation strategies. The initial capability could be operational in 1997. A multi-session, 2000 user system was projected for early in the next century

Digital Light

Light symbolises the highest good, it enables all visual art, and today it lies at the heart of billion-dollar industries. The control of light forms the foundation of contemporary vision. Digital Light brings together artists, curators, technologists and media archaeologists to study the historical evolution of digital light-based technologies. Digital Light provides a critical account of the capacities and limitations of contemporary digital light-based technologies and techniques by tracing their genealogies and comparing them with their predecessor media. As digital light remediates multiple historical forms (photography, print, film, video, projection, paint), the collection draws from all of these histories, connecting them to the digital present and placing them in dialogue with one another. Light is at once universal and deeply historical. The invention of mechanical media (including photography and cinematography) allied with changing print technologies (half-tone, lithography) helped structure the emerging electronic media of television and video, which in turn shaped the bitmap processing and raster display of digital visual media. Digital light is, as Stephen Jones points out in his contribution, an oxymoron: light is photons, particulate and discrete, and therefore always digital. But photons are also waveforms, subject to manipulation in myriad ways. From Fourier transforms to chip design, colour management to the translation of vector graphics into arithmetic displays, light is constantly disciplined to human purposes. In the form of fibre optics, light is now the infrastructure of all our media; in urban plazas and handheld devices, screens have become ubiquitous, and also standardised. This collection addresses how this occurred, what it means, and how artists, curators and engineers confront and challenge the constraints of increasingly normalised digital visual media. While various art pieces and other content are considered throughout the collection, the focus is specifically on what such pieces suggest about the intersection of technique and technology. Including accounts by prominent artists and professionals, the collection emphasises the centrality of use and experimentation in the shaping of technological platforms. Indeed, a recurring theme is how techniques of previous media become technologies, inscribed in both digital software and hardware. Contributions include considerations of image-oriented software and file formats; screen technologies; projection and urban screen surfaces; histories of computer graphics, 2D and 3D image editing software, photography and cinematic art; and transformations of light-based art resulting from the distributed architectures of the internet and the logic of the database. Digital Light brings together high profile figures in diverse but increasingly convergent fields, from academy award-winner and co-founder of Pixar, Alvy Ray Smith to feminist philosopher Cathryn Vasseleu