AvatarCreationusingAutomaticFaceRecognition MichaelLyons,AndrePlante,SebastienJehan,SeikiIn.pdfVIP

Avatar Creation using Automatic Face Recognition Michael Lyons, Andre Plante , Sebastien Jehan, Seiki Inoue , and Shigeru Akamatsu, ATR Human Information Processing Research Laboratory ATR Media Integration and Communication Laboratory 2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-02, Japan mlyons@hip.atr.co.jp, jjap@mic.atr.co.jp Abstract In the multimedia context, an avatar is the visual representation of the self in a virtual world. It is desir- able to incorporate personal information, such as an image of face, about the user into the avatar. To this end we have developed an algorithm which can auto- matically extract a face from an image, modify it, char- acterize it in terms of high-level properties, and ap- ply it to the creation of a personalized avatar. The al- gorithm has been tested on several hundred facial im- ages, including many taken under uncontrolled acqui- sition conditions, and found to exhibit satisfactory per- formance for immediate practical use. Introduction The term avatar, originally from Hindu mythology, refers to the temporary body a god inhabits while visit- ing earth. In virtual communities, it now describes the user’s visual embodiment in cyberspace [1]. Cyberspace avatars can be as simple as an icon or as complex as a fully rendered and textured 3D model. Regardless, they play an identical role, which is to represent the user’s likeness. Avatars may be distin- guished from intelligent agents and other digital life forms in that they are specifically designed to convey a personal image to other users. Loosely speaking, they are similar to the nicknames used in text-based chat environments and their general function is to create a memorable impression of a particular user in a virtual community. In real life, one may recognize without hesitation a colleague by his/her external features such as body size, facial features, hair color or a particular style of prescription glasses. Ideally, recognition of a user’s avatar by the other