Internet communication using real-time facial expression analysis and synthesis

A system that animates 3D facial agents based on real-time facial expression analysis techniques and research or synthesizing facial expressions and text-to-speech capabilities is now available. The system consists of three main modules, including, a real-time facial expression analysis compoent that calculates the MPEG-4 FAP2, an effective 3D agent with facial expression synthesis and text-to-speech capabilities, and a communication module. Subjective evaluations involving graduate and undergraduate students confirm the communication system's effectiveness. Potential applications include virtual teleconferencing, entertainment, computer games, human-to-human communication training, and distance learning.