FACIAL EXPRESSION ANALYSIS BY IMAGE PROCESSING

描述（申请人摘要）：面部表情传达 信息的情绪反应，并发挥关键作用， 人际行为的调节。 当前基于人类观察者的方法 用于测量面部表情是劳动密集型的，定性的， 很难跨实验室和随时间标准化。 使 可行的更严格的，定量的面部表情测量， 不同的应用，我们形成了一个跨学科的研究小组， 涵盖面部表情分析和图像处理方面的专业知识。 在 在资助期间，我们开发并展示了第一个版本的 用于测量数字化图像中的面部表情的自动化系统。 的 该系统可以区分在上部中的FACS动作单元的九种组合， 和下表面，定量的时间和地形的行动单位强度 在眉毛区域中;以及在眉毛区域内对图像序列进行几何归一化。 平面外的正负20度范围。 在竞争更新中，我们将增加行动单位的数量 被识别的组合，实现收敛方法， 量化动作单元强度，增加动作的概括性 单位估计到更广泛的图像方向，测试人脸图像 - 在来自定向面部动作任务的图像序列中进行FIP处理，以及 情绪调节的实验室研究，并促进整合 FIP整合到现有的数据管理和统计分析软件中使用 行为科学研究人员和临床医生。 有了这些目标 完成后，FIP将不再需要人类观察者来编码面部表情。 表达，促进标准化测量，使收集成为可能 处理更大、更有代表性的数据集，并开辟新的领域 研究和临床应用。

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): Facial expression communicates information about emotional response and plays a critical role in the regulation of interpersonal behavior. Current human-observer based methods for measuring facial expression are labor intensive, qualitative, and difficult to standardize across laboratories and over time. To make feasible more rigorous, quantitative measurement of facial expression in diverse applications, we formed an interdisciplinary research group which covers expertise in facial expression analysis and image processing. In the funding period, we developed and demonstrated the first version of an automated system for measuring facial expression in digitized images. The system can discriminate nine combinations of FACS action units in the upper and lower face, quantity the timing and topography of action unit intensity in the brow region; and geometrically normalize image sequences within a range of plus or minus 20 degrees of out of-plane. In the competing renewal, we will increase the number of action unit combinations that are recognized, implement convergent methods of quantifying action unit intensity, increase the generalizability of action unit estimation to a wider range of image orientations, test facial image processing (FIP) in image sequences from directed facial action tasks and laboratory studies of emotion regulation, and facilitate the integration of FIP into existing data management and statistical analysis software for use by behavioral science researchers and clinicians. With these goals completed, FIP will eliminate the need for human observers in coding facial expression, promote standardize measurement, make possible the collection and processing of larger, more representative data sets, and open new areas of investigation and clinical application.