Models of linguistic facial expressions for American Sign Language animation

Abstract

Facial expressions are a necessary and important part of the grammar of American Sign Language (ASL) sentences. However, current computational linguistic software cannot produce a huge portion of ASL constructions that include facial expressions. Here we summarize our research motivations, proposed plan, and potential contributions in the accessibility field. Our research aim is to formulate signer-independent models of facial movements for various types of linguistically meaningful facial expressions in ASL animation. This project summary also includes a brief description of current progress and future research plans.