Interface: a real time facial animation system

Abstract

The paper describes Interface, a real time facial animation system. The system uses a simple set of pre modeled facial expressions to create a wide range of emotions, mouth positions and complete head movements. The animation is done through layered groups of actions that combined gives the virtual actor complete freedom to perform different actions independently and simultaneously, without the intervention of the animator. Due to its software structure, Interface can be used as a "render plug-in" for an artificial intelligence program or a script based animation system. The system was successfully implemented using the languages Java and VRML, and can be executed through the Internet in PCs or workstations with a Java-enabled Web browser. Applications that can benefit from this system are interface agents, virtual reality systems and animation software, among others.