Java Based Talking Faces for Advanced Web User Interfaces

Parameter-based facial animation is now a mature technology, and has also been included in the MPEG4 standard. To make this technology available on the Web, the authors have developed a Java port of the FAE facial animation software created at DIST. While showing an acceptable performance reduction with respect to the original FAE, the Java version is considerably more flexible, since it can be used either as a stand-alone Java applet and as part of more complex, multi-user on-line worlds. This paper describes JFAE architecture, based on the Java3D object-oriented graphics library. The results of several tests that compare performances of the Java and native code versions are also presented. JFAE allows for the use of virtual consultants, clerks or testimonials to create easy to use user interfaces for e-Commerce sites and Web call centers. As a sample, a prototype Web-based virtual news service is described.