Smile Analysis

In this paper, we present our work on analysis and classification of smiled vowels, chuckling (or shaking) vowels and laughter syllables. This work is part of a larger framework that aims at assessing the level of amusement in speech using the audio modality only. Indeed all of these three categories occur in amused speech and are considered to contribute in the expression of different levels of amusement. We first analyze these three amused speech components on the acoustic level. Then, we improve a classification system we previously developed. With a limited amount of data and features, we are able to obtain good classification results with different systems. Among the compared systems, the best one achieved 82.8% of accuracy, therefore outperforming chance.

Background: The lower facial third is divided into upper one third from base of the nose to commissural
line and lower two third from commissural line to lower border of the chin. This proportion may not be
true for all population of different age, sex and ethnicity.
Purpose: To determine the proportion of lower facial height and to correlate its significance in different
age, sex and ethnicity.
Material and methods:Convenient sampling was done among different age group of both sexes above
18 years. The 111 subjects (40 Male and 71 Female) were separated into three age groups. It consist of
58 Aryan and 53 Mongolian ethnics group. Vertical distance from the base of the nose to commissural
line (upper one third of the lower facial height) and vertical distance from the commissural line to the
lower border of the chin (lower two third of the lower facial height was measured by vernier calliper
respectively.
Results. Proportion of upper one third to lower two third of the lower facial height was found more in
71.17 % , less in 19.83 % and equal in 9% of the total sample.
Conclusions: It was found that proportion of upper one third to the lower two third of the lower facial
height was greater in our study population. Proportion of lower facial height was not statically
significant with age, sex and ethnicity.
Keywords: facial proportion, lower face height, upper lip length

This paper attempts to read "Smile" by D.H. Lawrence through the theory of defamilarization proposed by Viktor Shklovsky, a prominent Russian formalist. In doing so, this paper shall examine the techniques used by Lawrence to make the familiar unfamiliar to the world.

In the article there are presented the results of recognition of seven emotional states (neutral, joy, sadness, surprise, anger, fear, disgust) based on facial expressions. Coefficients describing elements of facial expressions, registered for six subjects, were used as features. The features have been calculated for three-dimensional face model. The classification of features were performed using k-NN classifier and MLP neural network.

Smile and laughter are universal means of transmitting nonverbal messages. Smile is a very complex expression capable to transmit a wide range of information, denoting a wide range of emotions and feelings, such as pleasure, joy, happiness, satisfaction, promise, sociability, amusement, but also cynicism, embarrassment, emotional pain, slyness, shame and sarcasm. However, the interpretation of the meaning of the smile also varies from one culture to another, or even from one subculture to another. Instead, laughter seems to have more universal human connotations and interpretations, because it is the expression of some basic universal human emotions, such as joy, cheerfulness, pleasure, happiness. Laughter is generally the expression of good mood, but, more than that, it can also cause good mood. That is why laughter is also used as part of some therapies. However, the vocal component of laughter, considered part of paraverbal communication, may have specific cultural determinations. For example, when people accentuate by laughing a certain vowel, they want to express, at least in European culture, different mental states and behavioural intentions, which are decipherable only when the codes of communication and their meanings are known. Significations and interpretations of laughter and smile are thus functions of the socio-cultural context. The present paper deals with these aspects, highlighting the social and cultural dimensions of these two suggestive components of nonverbal communication.

Smiling while talking can be perceived not only visually but also audibly. Several acoustic-phonetic properties have been found to cue smiling in the acoustic signal. The aim of this study was to validate properties associated with smiled speech using a natural video corpus. The realisations of monophthongs of the same words spoken with and without a visible smile were compared. The results show a significant increase of intensity (for all words), of F2 (for words with the round vowel /o:/) and of F0 (for all words except the backchannel marker ja) in the smiled condition.

Smile is not only a visual expression. When it occurs together with speech, it also alters its acoustic realization. Being able to synthesize speech altered by the expression of smile can hence be an important contributor for adding naturalness and expres-siveness in interactive systems. In this work, we present a first attempt to develop a Hidden Markov Model (HMM)-based synthesis system allowing to control the degree of smile in speech. It relies on a model interpolation technique, enabling speech-smile sentences with various smiling intensities to be generated. Sentences synthesized using this approach have been evaluated through a perceptual test. Encouraging results are reported here.

In this paper we present the AmuS database of about three hours worth of data related to amused speech recorded from two males and one female subjects and contains data in two languages French and English. We review previous work on smiled speech and speech-laughs. We describe acoustic analysis on part of our database, and a perception test comparing speech-laughs with smiled and neutral speech. We show the efficiency of the data in AmuS for synthesis of amused speech by training HMM-based models for neutral and smiled speech for each voice and comparing them using an on-line CMOS test.

Smile could be defined as a facial expression that resembles an upper curvature of lips endings and it is always used to show joy, pleasance, and likeliness. Smiling also influence someone´s people attractiveness. In a aesthetic and functional point of view, lips are of remarkable importance because the permit and help a proper feeding and they contribute for talking and facial beauty. There are some features as lips volume, type of smile, smile line, tooth exposure that must be registered before a full dental treatment. Here is a revision of aesthetic and functional features of lips and its relation to smile design. La sonrisa, definida como la expresión facial caracterizada por la curvatura hacia arriba de los extremos de los labios, se usa frecuentemente para mostrar placer, agrado y alegría. La sonrisa también influye en el atractivo de una persona. Desde el punto de vista funcional y estético, los labios tienen gran importancia porque facilitan y permiten una correcta alimentac...

In this paper, we present our work on analysis and classification of smiled vowels, chuckling (or shaking) vowels and laughter syllables. This work is part of a larger framework that aims at assessing the level of amusement in speech using the audio modality only. Indeed all of these three categories occur in amused speech and are considered to contribute in the expression of different levels of amusement. We first analyze these three amused speech components on the acoustic level. Then, we improve a classification system we previously developed. With a limited amount of data and features, we are able to obtain good classification results with different systems. Among the compared systems, the best one achieved 82.8% of accuracy, therefore outperforming chance.

The effect of service with a smile on consumers is undoubtedly positive. Yet, in service failure and recovery, this remains unclear. This study examines the importance of morphological characteristics of a smile and different types of smile in service failure and recovery using eye-tracking technology. Results indicated that the degree of mouth activation and the gender of the service worker were crucial factors in service recovery. In addition, eye-tracking data revealed that the longest fixations occurred on smiles with teeth showing and eyes that produced crows’ feet wrinkles. Taken together, this suggests that eye tracking may identify optimal display of smile in service recovery.

In this work, we present a study dedicated to improve the speech-laugh synthesis quality. The impact of two factors is evaluated. The first factor is the addition of breath intake sounds after laughter bursts in speech. The second is the repetition of the word interrupted by laughs in the speech-laugh sentences. Several configurations are evaluated through subjective perceptual tests. We report an improvement of the synthesized speech-laugh naturalness when the breath intake sounds are added. We were unable, though, to make a conclusion concerning a possible positive impact of the repetition of the interrupted words on the speech-laugh synthesis quality.

Cosmetic expectations have increased with time and current trends speak volumes about gingival esthetics
and smile designing. Gingival pigmentation especially on the labial aspect of anterior teeth has become an
important component of general esthetics. Various physiologic and pathologic factors cause gingival pigmentation.
The existing indices do not deal with the etiology, extent and severity of gingival pigmentation. Hence, we
propose a new classification and index for gingival pigmentation to assess the treatment needs for the patient.
Keywords: Gingival melanin pigmentation, gingival pigmentation index, gingival pigmented lesions, melanin index,
physiological gingival pigmentation

Smile is not only a visual expression. When it occurs together with speech, it also alters its acoustic realization. Being able to synthesize speech altered by the expression of smile can hence be an important contributor for adding naturalness and expressiveness in interactive systems. In this work, we present a first attempt to develop a Hidden Markov Model (HMM)-based synthesis system allowing to control the degree of smile in speech. It relies on a model interpolation technique, enabling speech-smile sentences with various smiling intensities to be generated. Sentences synthesized using this approach have been evaluated through a perceptual test. Encouraging results are reported here.

This paper presents a video game system with a smile interface designed to promote the player experience. We introduce a new mechanism to an existing endless runner game, “Runner.” Such mechanism allows smiles to be taken as an input to the game system, for triggering boosting period. To detect smiles, a deep-learning facial recognition toolkit named Affdex, by Affectiva, is employed. Evaluation on player experience was done using a shorten version of Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale. Three different game modes are compared: Standard Mode (no smile and boosting), Smile Mode (with smile for boosting), and Auto Mode (auto boosting, without smile). Our results show that the presence of the smile mechanism leads to more enjoyable gameplay.

Your smile plays a major role in how you perceive yourself, as well as in the impressions you make on the people around you. Surveys have shown that more than any other physical feature-eyes, hair or body-the smile is what both men and women find most attractive in other people.