Observer perception of artistically manipulated emotional facial expression animations

While we know quite a lot about emotional facial expressions, we know relatively little about the temporal development of dynamic expressions. In order to study expressions, most researchers have made use of acted, posed, or naturalistic expressions of emotion. However, objective manipulation of dynamic expressions for experimental study can prove difficult without disrupting perceptual quality or degrading natural movement. Another way to investigate the temporal configuration of dynamic expressions is to consider the subjective perspective of an animation practitioner. Few studies have considered the artistic representation of facial expressions, and how animators produce what they believe are authentic dynamic expressions. In this paper, the authors discuss a mixed performative-experimental approach to facial animation research, in which facial expression dynamics are manipulated artistically and the resulting animations are tested on observers.