Expressive 3D face for mobile devices

Beyond being a digital appliance, a mobile device now increases overall quality of life by providing easy access to value-adding information. We can, however, embed media customization technology into these devices to further enhance their usage. Humanoid/anthropomorphic avatars are considered a user-friendly technology for realizing a media customization environment. This research formulates a computerized and expressive 3D face, which can be utilized as a mobile avatar. Input images are obtained from a built-in mobile camera. The resulting, customized 3D face is systematically generated by the mobile device. Six facial expressions are simulated by facial muscle motions embedded in the 3D mobile face. The generated 3D mobile face and expressions can be exported to other compatible formats to increase usability. Finally, the system validation is conducted by a focus group study¹.