Emotions represent a big part of everyday communication, that’s why it’s important for us to learn how to identify them. They communicate how a person feels, if they’re happy, sad, angry, surprised or even scared. Even when talking about animated cartoons, advertisements, posts, etc., it’s important that we keep the emotion recognition high. That ensures a better connection between the character and the viewer, as well as making our message more memorable. Some facial expressions depicting emotions are often exaggerated, while others aren’t emphasised enough to ensure good emotional recognition.
This study analyzes the perception of animated facial expressions depicting different emotions on an illustrated character. We compared the perception of six basic emotional expressions (happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear and disgust). Using micro-animation techniques, each emotion was depicted in three intensity levels (a subtle version, a normal version and an exaggerated version). Emotion perception was analysed with a survey where speed and accuracy were measured in addition to the correctness of the answers.
The results show how the perception changed based on the emotion and the intensity shown and grant us a deeper understanding of micro-animations and facial expression. Based on the results, guidelines were formed to help animators answer the question, which emotions need to be especially exaggerated to be perceived and which emotions can be animated more subtly while still maintaining good emotional perception.
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