Wednesday, January 25, 2006

video What aspects of facial movement convey emotion?. Disney’s purchase of Pixar makes it clear that computer-generated (CGI) animation appears to be the wave of the future in movies. But one difficulty with CGI animation is conveying realistic emotions. While film animators (whether they use computers or not) can use artistic license to achieve the desired effects, when “emotions” are generated exclusively by computer, it can be difficult to identify the key factors in conveying that emotion. We’ve discussed avatars, for example, as one way that computers can automate human interaction. Artificial intelligence — lifelike simulators of human responses — will also need to mimick emotions convincingly in order to interact effectively with real people. Harold Hill, Nikolaus Troje, and Alan Johnston have investigated two aspects of how CGI animations can effectively express emotion. To view the rest of this article, visit the new Cognitive Daily site at ScienceBlogs.com. [Cognitive Daily] 3:48:56 PM    comment

gender One in Four College Students Cite Unwanted Sexual Contact in Survey. The online survey included a broad definition of harassment, its authors say, capture episodes that might otherwise have been shrugged off. By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO. [NYT > Education] 10:33:21 AM    comment

aging Use your brain, halve your risk of dementia. Research from UNSW provides the most convincing evidence to date that complex mental activity across people's lives significantly reduces the risk of dementia. The researchers found that such activity almost halves the incidence of dementia. [Science Blog -] 9:07:50 AM    comment