System and method for tracking facial muscle and eye motion for computer graphics animation
First Claim
1. A motion tracking animation system, comprising:
- a plurality of pairs of electromyography (EMG) electrodes adapted to be affixed to a skin surface of a performer at plural locations corresponding to respective muscles, wherein at least one pair of EMG electrodes is aligned along an expected direction of an electrical signal corresponding to muscle movements of the performer when the electrical signal is to be read, and at least one pair of EMG electrodes is aligned along a direction perpendicular to the expected direction of the electrical signal when the electrical signal is to be excluded;
a processor operatively coupled to said plurality of pairs of EMG electrodes, said processor including programming instructions to perform the functions of;
acquiring EMG data from said plurality of pairs of EMG electrodes, said EMG data comprising electrical signals corresponding to muscle movements of the performer during a performance;
processing the EMG data to provide a digital model of the muscle movements, wherein the digital model further comprises a virtual facial muscle structure; and
mapping the digital model onto an animated character, the animated character will exhibit the same muscle movements as the performer when corresponding muscle vectors within the virtual facial muscle structure are actuated in response to the acquired EMG data; and
a plurality of pairs of electrooculogram (EOG) electrodes adapted to be affixed to said skin surface of the performer at locations adjacent to the performer'"'"'s eyes, said processor operatively coupled to said plurality of pairs of EOG electrodes and including programming instructions to perform the functions of;
acquiring EOG data from said plurality of pairs of EOG electrodes, said EOG data comprising electrical signals corresponding to orientations of the performer'"'"'s eyes during a performance;
processing the EOG data by determining a magnitude and a polarity of a dipole electric field associated with the performer'"'"'s eyes in order to reconstruct the orientations of the eyes; and
mapping the processed EOG data onto the animated character, wherein the animated character will exhibit the same eye orientations as the performer when corresponding muscle vectors within the virtual facial muscle structure are actuated in response to the acquired EOG data.
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Abstract
A motion tracking system enables faithful capture of subtle facial and eye motion using a surface electromyography (EMG) detection method to detect muscle movements and an electrooculogram (EOG) detection method to detect eye movements. An embodiment of the motion tracking animation system comprises a plurality of pairs of EOG electrodes adapted to be affixed to the skin surface of the performer at locations adjacent to the performer'"'"'s eyes. The EOG data comprises electrical signals corresponding to eye movements of a performer during a performance. Programming instructions further provide processing of the EOG data and mapping of processed EOG data onto an animated character. As a result, the animated character will exhibit he same muscle and eye movements as the performer.
101 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A motion tracking animation system, comprising:
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a plurality of pairs of electromyography (EMG) electrodes adapted to be affixed to a skin surface of a performer at plural locations corresponding to respective muscles, wherein at least one pair of EMG electrodes is aligned along an expected direction of an electrical signal corresponding to muscle movements of the performer when the electrical signal is to be read, and at least one pair of EMG electrodes is aligned along a direction perpendicular to the expected direction of the electrical signal when the electrical signal is to be excluded; a processor operatively coupled to said plurality of pairs of EMG electrodes, said processor including programming instructions to perform the functions of; acquiring EMG data from said plurality of pairs of EMG electrodes, said EMG data comprising electrical signals corresponding to muscle movements of the performer during a performance; processing the EMG data to provide a digital model of the muscle movements, wherein the digital model further comprises a virtual facial muscle structure; and mapping the digital model onto an animated character, the animated character will exhibit the same muscle movements as the performer when corresponding muscle vectors within the virtual facial muscle structure are actuated in response to the acquired EMG data; and a plurality of pairs of electrooculogram (EOG) electrodes adapted to be affixed to said skin surface of the performer at locations adjacent to the performer'"'"'s eyes, said processor operatively coupled to said plurality of pairs of EOG electrodes and including programming instructions to perform the functions of; acquiring EOG data from said plurality of pairs of EOG electrodes, said EOG data comprising electrical signals corresponding to orientations of the performer'"'"'s eyes during a performance; processing the EOG data by determining a magnitude and a polarity of a dipole electric field associated with the performer'"'"'s eyes in order to reconstruct the orientations of the eyes; and mapping the processed EOG data onto the animated character, wherein the animated character will exhibit the same eye orientations as the performer when corresponding muscle vectors within the virtual facial muscle structure are actuated in response to the acquired EOG data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of animating using motion tracking, comprising:
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affixing a plurality of pairs of electromyography (EMG) electrodes to a skin surface of a performer at plural locations corresponding to respective muscles, wherein at least one pair of EMG electrodes is aligned along an expected direction of an electrical signal corresponding to muscle movements of the performer when the electrical signal is to be read, and at least one pair of EMG electrodes is aligned along a direction perpendicular to the expected direction of the electrical signal when the electrical signal is to be excluded; acquiring EMG data from said plurality of pairs of EMG electrodes, said EMG data comprising electrical signals corresponding to muscle movements of the performer during a performance; processing the EMG data to provide a digital model of the muscle movements, wherein the digital model further comprises a virtual facial muscle structure; mapping the digital model onto an animated character, wherein the animated character will exhibit the same muscle movements as the performer when corresponding muscle vectors within the virtual facial muscle structure are actuated in response to the acquired EMG data; affixing a plurality of pairs of electooculogram (EOG) electrodes to said skin surface of the performer at locations adjacent to the performer'"'"'s eyes; and acquiring EOG data from said plurality of pairs of EOG electrodes, said EOG data comprising electrical signals corresponding to orientations of the performer'"'"'s eyes during a performance, processing the EOG data by determining a magnitude and a polarity of a dipole electric field associated with the performer'"'"'s eyes in order to reconstruct the orientations of the eyes, and mapping the processed EOG data onto the animated character, wherein the animated character will exhibit the same eye orientations as the performer when corresponding muscle vectors within the virtual facial muscle structure are actuated in response to the acquired EMG data. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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Specification