Designing facial expression guideline for avatar-mediated communication

Abstract

Avatars play a crucial role in non-verbal emotional communication, utilizing facial expressions to convey users' emotions and intentions. Ensuring accurate and intentional emotional conveyance through avatars requires precise facial expressions, prompting extensive research in computer science on mirroring human facial expressions in avatars. However, the design of avatar facial features that accurately capture users' intended emotions lacks comprehensive research. This study focuses on investigating a design guideline for avatar's facial expressions that aids avatar designers in creating facial expressions effectively, thus facilitating engaging emotional communication in instant messenger. The study consists of three stages: exploration, design, and evaluation. The exploration stage examines the current state of emotional conveyance in avatars, while the design stage involves a participatory design workshop with cartoonists to identify key directions for facial features. The design guideline is then evaluated through online surveys and practical design implementation to assess its effectiveness and considerations. The research findings are expected to provide valuable guidance to avatar designers, enabling them to effectively incorporate users' intended emotional information and facilitate engaging and expressive communication.