Facial animation based on muscular contraction parameters

We present a new approach to estimating muscular contraction parameters for the purposes of animating facial expressions. In this paper, first, the facial surface feature points of face image are detected by using image processing methods. Next, the muscular contraction parameters are estimated by using the neutral expression and arbitrary expression displacement of the facial model wireframe fitting, based on detected facial surface feature points. Finally, the facial expression is generated by using the vertex displacements of an individual facial model based on estimated muscular contraction parameters. The facial animation can be generated by using the image sequences. Experimental results reveal that our approach can generate facial animation of the individual facial model, which corresponds to the facial expression of the actual face image sequences.