Simplified Facial Animation Control Utilizing Novel Input Devices: A Comparative Study

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Authors:
Nikolaus Bee - University of Augsburg
Bernhard Falk - University of Augsburg
Elisabeth André - University of Augsburg

Summary:
This paper explores three different input sources for the manipulation of facial animations on three dimensional objects.  This research uses a library called FACS (Facial Action Coding System) to encode parts of a 3D model to allow easy animations to be implemented and changed.

Many computer games that allow the manipulation of facial features use slider bars which makes it easy because the programmer can just slap some slider onto a range of values.  The research group came up with the idea of using a game pad and a data glove as possible input sources to change values associated with the 3D model.

Early on in the study the research group asked two professional graphic artists from a well-known video game company to review their idea of using these two inputs in place of the common sliders.  Both experts agreed that the game pad seemed a more natural way of input while the data glove was not a very good source of input.

Along with this data the research group implemented a user study to test this theory on 17 non-professional participants.  Most users stated that they "felt" more comfortable with the sliders, however the data showed that the users actually performed faster with the game pad.  Much like the experts suggested, the data glove was not a good source of input and not well liked.

Discussion:
I chose to read this paper because it looked interesting because I am interested in the video game development process and facial animation ties in with that field.  After reading the paper, I realized this was based on the input processes for the manipulation of the facial animation.  I found it strange that the researchers chose to test the data glove even after the experts said it was a bad idea, and what do you know? People hated the data glove.  Overall the paper was quite boring and did not state much other than the fact that the game pad was a better source of input than both traditional sliders and a data glove.  I did not feel like this paper was "published journal" worthy material.