Direct imitation of human facial expressions by a user-interface robot

Imitating the facial expressions of another person is a meaningful signal within interpersonal communication. Providing a robot with the capability of imitating the face of an interactant marks a first step towards implementing a communication model of mimicry. In this paper, we present a novel approach to facial expression imitation which does not require observed expressions to be assigned to a set of basic emotional expressions. Rather, arbitrary expressions are directly imitated exclusively based on camera images of the interactant´s face. Consequently, the repertoire of displayable expressions is extended significantly and becomes more appropriate for interactions with humans.