Effect of camera resolution and bandwidth on facial affect recognition.

This preliminary study explored the effect of camera resolution and bandwidth on facial affect recognition, an important process and clinical variable in mental health service delivery. Sixty medical students and mental health-care professionals were recruited and randomized to four different combinations of commonly used teleconferencing camera resolutions and bandwidths: (1) one chip charged coupling device (CCD) camera, commonly used for VHSgrade taping and in teleconferencing systems costing less than $4,000 with a resolution of 280 lines, and 128 kilobytes per second bandwidth (kbps); (2) VHS and 768 kbps; (3) three-chip CCD camera, commonly used for Betacam (Beta) grade taping and in teleconferencing systems costing more than $4,000 with a resolution of 480 lines, and 128 kbps; and (4) Betacam and 768 kbps. The subjects were asked to identify four facial affects dynamically presented on videotape by an actor and actress presented via a video monitor at 30 frames per second. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant interaction effect for camera resolution and bandwidth (p = 0.02) and a significant main effect for camera resolution (p = 0.006), but no main effect for bandwidth was detected. Post hoc testing of interaction means, using the Tukey Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) test and the critical difference (CD) at the 0.05 alpha level = 1.71, revealed subjects in the VHS/768 kbps (M = 7.133) and VHS/128 kbps (M = 6.533) were significantly better at recognizing the displayed facial affects than those in the Betacam/768 kbps (M = 4.733) or Betacam/128 kbps (M = 6.333) conditions. Camera resolution and bandwidth combinations differ in their capacity to influence facial affect recognition. For service providers, this study's results support the use of VHS cameras with either 768 kbps or 128 kbps bandwidths for facial affect recognition compared to Betacam cameras. The authors argue that the results of this study are a consequence of the VHS camera resolution/bandwidth combinations' ability to improve signal detection (i.e., facial affect recognition) by subjects in comparison to Betacam camera resolution/bandwidth combinations.

[1]  L Mannion,et al.  Telepsychiatry: an island pilot project , 1998, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[2]  Telemedicine services to a county jail , 2000, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[3]  Daniel G Bobrow,et al.  On data-limited and resource-limited processes , 1975, Cognitive Psychology.

[4]  Daniel T. Gilbert,et al.  Seeing Less and Knowing More The Benefits of Perceptual Ignorance , 1988 .

[5]  A. Allen,et al.  Telemedicine technology and clinical applications. , 1995, JAMA.

[6]  R. Daft,et al.  A Proposed Integration among Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design. , 1984 .

[7]  P. Ekman,et al.  A new pan-cultural facial expression of emotion , 1986 .

[8]  H. Wallbott.  The robustness of communication of emotion via facial expression: Emotion recognition from photographs with deteriorated pictorial quality , 1991 .

[9]  H White,et al.  A prospective satisfaction study and cost analysis of a pilot child telepsychiatry service in Newfoundland , 2001, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[10]  M. Dongier,et al.  Telepsychiatry: Psychiatric Consultation through two-way television. A controlled study. , 1986, Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie.

[11]  P. Pattison,et al.  Facial affect and affective prosody recognition in first-episode schizophrenia , 2001, Schizophrenia Research.

[12]  R S Weinstein,et al.  Experience-related differences in diagnosis from medical images displayed on monitors. , 1996, Telemedicine journal : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association.

[13]  C. Ball,et al.  The assessment of cognitive function in the elderly using videoconferencing , 1998, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[14]  P. Trott.  The Queensland Northern Regional Health Authority telemental health project. , 1996, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[15]  J Preston,et al.  Using telemedicine to improve health care in distant areas. , 1992, Hospital & community psychiatry.

[16]  Paul Ekman,et al.  The universality of a contempt expression: A replication , 1988 .

[17]  Joel R. Davitz,et al.  THE COMMUNICATION OF FEELINGS BY CONTENT‐FREE SPEECH , 1959 .

[18]  J P Watson,et al.  Preliminary evaluation of a Low-Cost VideoConferencing (LCVC) system for remote cognitive testing of adult psychiatric patients. , 1993, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[19]  Y. Chae,et al.  The reliability and acceptability of telemedicine for patients with schizophrenia in Korea , 2000, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[20]  L. Baer,et al.  Applicability of telemedicine for assessing patients with schizophrenia: acceptance and reliability. , 1997, The Journal of clinical psychiatry.

[21]  H. Wallbott.  Effects of distortion of spatial and temporal resolution of video stimuli on emotion attributions , 1992 .

[22]  A. Ohinmaa,et al.  The use of videoconferencing for telepsychiatry in Finland , 1998, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[23]  J. Boucher,et al.  Recognition of Facial Expression in Three Cultures , 1980 .

[24]  P. Ekman.  Pictures of Facial Affect , 1976 .

[25]  J O'Laughlen,et al.  Pilot studies of telemedicine for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. , 1995, The American journal of psychiatry.

[26]  D. Eedy,et al.  Patient satisfaction with realtime teledermatology in Northern Ireland , 1998, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[27]  E. Miller,et al.  Telemedicine and doctor-patient communication: an analytical survey of the literature , 2001, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[28]  P. Ekman,et al.  Pan-Cultural Elements in Facial Displays of Emotion , 1969, Science.

[29]  S. L. Glatt,et al.  “Interactive video conferencing” in the provision of neuropsychological services to rural areas , 1995 .

[30]  R. Rosenthal,et al.  Content-masking methods as determinants of results of studies of nonverbal communication , 1985 .

[31]  Mario Cruz,et al.  Technologic Advancement and the Psychiatric Encounter , 2000, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[32]  R. Murphy,et al.  Telediagnosis: a new community health resource. Observations on the feasibility of telediagnosis based on 1000 patient transactions. , 1974, American journal of public health.

[33]  C. Izard.  The face of emotion , 1971 .

[34]  R Brown,et al.  Distance education and caregiver support groups: comparison of traditional and telephone groups. , 1999, The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation.

[35]  Psychological impact of a remote psychometric consultation with hospitalized elderly people , 1997, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[36]  Elsie Hui,et al.  Telepsychiatry in psychogeriatric service: a pilot study , 2001, International journal of geriatric psychiatry.

[37]  D. Matsumoto.  American-Japanese Cultural Differences in the Recognition of Universal Facial Expressions , 1992 .

[38]  Videoconferencing in the provision of psychological services at a distance , 2000, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[39]  A. Yoshino,et al.  Telepsychiatry: assessment of televideo psychiatric interview reliability with present‐ and next‐generation internet infrastructures , 2001, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica.

[40]  P. Yellowlees,et al.  Telemedicine in the Top End , 1995 .

[41]  E. Mikhailova,et al.  Abnormal recognition of facial expression of emotions in depressed patients with major depression disorder and schizotypal personality disorder , 1996, Biological Psychiatry.

[42]  Daniel O. Segall,et al.  Personality and the enactment of emotion , 1980 .

[43]  R. Daft,et al.  Information Richness. A New Approach to Managerial Behavior and Organization Design , 1983 .

[44]  J Simpson,et al.  Evaluation of a routine telepsychiatry service , 2001, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[45]  J. Short.  Effects of Medium of Communication on Experimental Negotiation , 1974 .

[46]  R. Shih,et al.  A randomized controlled trial of telemedicine in an emergency department , 1998, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[47]  W. Gaebel,et al.  Facial expression and emotional face recognition in schizophrenia and depression , 2005, European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.

[48]  P. Ekman,et al.  Matsumoto and Ekman's Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion (JACFEE): Reliability Data and Cross-National Differences , 1997 .

[49]  P H Clarke,et al.  A referrer and patient evaluation of a telepsychiatry consultation–liaison service in South Australia , 1997, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[50]  D. Gilbert,et al.  On cognitive busyness: When person perceivers meet persons perceived. , 1988 .

[51]  H White,et al.  A randomized, controlled trial of child psychiatric assessments conducted using videoconferencing , 2000, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[52]  P. Cukor,et al.  Automated telephone screening survey for depression. , 1995, JAMA.

[53]  Arvid Kappas,et al.  Angle of regard: The effect of vertical viewing angle on the perception of facial expressions , 1994 .

[54]  A. Young,et al.  Handbook of Research on Face Processing , 1989 .

[55]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design , 1986 .

[56]  E. R. Skinner,et al.  A calibrated recording and analysis of the pitch, force and quality of vocal tones expressing happiness and sadness; and a determination of the pitch and force of the subjective concepts of ordinary, soft and loud tones. , 1935 .

[57]  M Withers,et al.  Use of videophones and low-cost standard telephone lines to provide a social presence in telepsychiatry. , 1998, Telemedicine journal : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association.

[58]  Nina Schneider,et al.  Telemedicine success story. , 2003, Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association.

[59]  D. Hailey,et al.  Evaluation of a telepsychiatry pilot project , 1999, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[60]  David Ermer.  Child and Adolescent Telepsychiatry Clinics , 1999 .

[61]  P. Yellowlees,et al.  Telepsychiatry: ‘tele’ yes, but what about the ‘psychiatry’? , 1997, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[62]  J. Addington,et al.  Facial affect recognition and information processing in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder , 1998, Schizophrenia Research.

[63]  P. Hauser,et al.  Reliability and acceptability of psychiatric diagnosis via telecommunication and audiovisual technology. , 1998, Psychiatric services.

[64]  A M Burton,et al.  Asymmetric dependencies in perceiving identity and emotion: Experiments with morphed faces , 1999, Perception & psychophysics.

[65]  D. Rubinow,et al.  Impaired recognition of affect in facial expression in depressed patients , 1992, Biological Psychiatry.

[66]  S. Chaiken,et al.  Communication modality as a determinant of persuasion: The role of communicator salience. , 1983 .

[67]  M. Mandal,et al.  Visuospatial and affect recognition deficit in depression. , 1998, Journal of affective disorders.

[68]  P. Ekman,et al.  DIFFERENCES Universals and Cultural Differences in the Judgments of Facial Expressions of Emotion , 2004 .

[69]  J. LePage,et al.  Telepsychiatry in a rural inpatient setting. , 2001, Psychiatric services.

[70]  J E Rohrer,et al.  Acceptability of telepsychiatry to a rural population. , 2000, Psychiatric services.

[71]  M. Anthony Graham,et al.  Telepsychiatry in Appalachia , 1996 .

[72]  G. Stephenson,et al.  INTERPERSONAL AND INTER-PARTY EXCHANGE: A LABORATORY SIMULATION OF AN INDUSTRIAL NEGOTIATION AT THE PLANT LEVEL , 1969 .