EMOFACE

Autism is a pervasive development disorder characterised by difficulty with recognising emotions and understanding social situations. This disability concerns 70 million people around the world, including 700,000 in France(1). Using cleverly animated avatars, Emoface stimulates the ability to interact emotionally and opens new perspectives in the development of social skills.

Emoface uses a technology that makes it possible to automatically generate the animation of an avatar in a desired emotion. It is based on the statistical modelling of emotions by using recordings of real actors. The experimental results show that the technology is effective in the production of expressive animations with a variety of complex emotions, for example: seduction, irony or embarrassment.

Our technology enables the generation of an infinite number of situations by controlling the intensity of the emotion depending on the context. This subtlety of expression makes it easier to understand a wide range of real situations. In addition, the use of fun avatars is attractive and stimulating for those affected.

There is a Proof of Concept for this technology. The application has been developed and is being finalised following numerous tests. To complement the emotion modelling technology, usage innovations have been created through tests carried out in a situation of support for people suffering from autism.

This tool offers emotion recognition tests and tests of the understanding of social contexts. The wider use of this application by the HR services or educational programmes is also planned to help with the management of day-to-day social and professional situations, those specific to foreign cultures, etc.