Avatar animated in real-time using facial expressions captured with a webcam

Skype allow us to easily hold video calls with people around the world. But what if you wanted to hide your identity, yet still interact naturally on video through an avatar?A Keio University group, led by Associate Professor Yasue Mitsukura, has developed a method for measuring which way a person is facing and how their expression changes. This system achieves high speed and high precision, using an ordinary PC and a USB camera. The potential uses for such tech are wide and varied. Mitsukura believes it will be popular with anyone who does 3D modeling and animation and wants a simple solution for bringing their characters to life. The system is capable of interpreting different expressions, and is pre-configured to tell when you are happy, sad, surprised, or even laughing. This could easily be tweaked on the final avatar to portray a better smile, laugh, or angry reaction.also analyzes the shape of the person's expression. So it can reproduce how the eyebrows and mouth are moving, and whether the person is laughing, angry, or surprised.