On the Application of the Triad Affect Interpretation Method to Understand Emotional Expression

To better understand how emotions are recognized, we propose the Triad Affect Interpretation (TAI) method that creates a model of how users perceive animations of emotions of specific synthetic characters, with the additional intent of improving the way emotions are communicated so that they are more easily recognized. The method is divided into two main steps and focuses on a set of animations of emotions taken from the synthetic characters under development. The first step aims to elicit meaningful constructs through content analysis. The second step asks participants to rate the same animations against the selected constructs. Using principal component analysis and cluster analysis, we then create a model of the relevant factors to the perception of emotions that can inform future improvements of the animations related to the expression of emotions. The results of a user study suggest that our characters' expressions of Anger and Disgust are confused with each other due to a similar contraction of the face; and Fear and Surprise are confused due to a similar expansion of the face, which provides specific directions for improvements.