| US 7,554,549 B2 | ||
| System and method for tracking facial muscle and eye motion for computer graphics animation | ||
| Mark Sagar, Venice, Calif. (US); and Remington Scott, Santa Monica, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Sony Corporation, Tokyo (Japan); and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Culver City, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Nov. 08, 2004, as Appl. No. 10/984,488. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/616049, filed on Oct. 04, 2004. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/615268, filed on Oct. 01, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0071934 A1, Apr. 06, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. G06T 13/00 (2006.01); G06T 15/70 (2006.01); A61B 5/04 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 345—473 [345/474; 600/546] | 11 Claims |
| 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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