A workshop on standards for facial animation

Introduction Facial modeling and animation has long fascinated computer graphics researchers, not only for the ubiquity of faces in the real world, but also for the inherent problems in creating surface deformations and expressive behaviors. Face animation is inherently a multi-disciplinary effort. Within computer graphics, applications of facial simulations have greatly increased as workstation performance permits real-time display of the hundreds of polygons necessary for minimal realism. Recent progress in facial animation now promises to provide useful and capable tools for virtual environments, entertainment, telecommunication, education, linguistics, psychology and medicine. Each of these fields has already applied various sorts of face models to aspects of research: as "talking heads," as computer-controllable experiment generators, and as plastic surgery mannequins. Even a passive face conveys a great deal of information. Social science tells us we see and react to species, gender, color, shape, wrinkles, freckles, hair, decorations (lipstick, mascara), and so on. Plastic surgeons carefully consider the structure of bone, skin, and muscles, while more generally circulation and innervation are also medically vital. As a face comes to life and begins to move, we observe the lips, teeth, and tongue for speech; the gestures of the eyes and head for dialog; and the flexing of muscles from forehead to neck for emotion. The available range of motion is remarkable. We puff cheeks, pout lips, stick out the tongue, raise an eyebrow, wink, yawn, scratch, and stare. Some actions are brief, some much slower; some are variable, either consciously or unconsciously.