2023 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Cross-border emotional expression analysis using image information processing
| Project/Area Number |
23K16925
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| Research Institution | Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-04-01 – 2026-03-31
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| Keywords | Emotional expression / Cross culture / Facial expression / Affective computing / Perception / Image processing / Computer vision |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
To understand the psychology of emotional expression in different cultures, we collected facial expression images from media in Japan and Thailand, created a cross-cultural facial expression dataset, and computationally demonstrated the differences in facial expressions of people from different cultures.
In addition, we further investigated the state-of-the-art facial expression recognition systems on our cross-cultural data and found the bias of these systems toward certain emotions of both Thai and Japanese samples. To confirm the bias of facial expression recognition in humans, we also conducted a subjective evaluation of human subjects' perception of these cross-cultural facial expression images.
For further use in deep learning-based emotional expression analysis, we also considered the generative models to synthesize facial expressions of emotion, as the number of images collected in our dataset is insufficient for deep learning-based methods. In addition to facial expression features, we have also explored the potential of using human gait features.
As part of our international collaboration efforts, we have also established our international collaboration with the researchers in Thailand through several meetings, including direct visits to Mahidol University (Faculty of Engineering and Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital) and Thammasat University. In addition, we organized the Special Session on Next Generation of Affective Computing (NGAC) at IEEE TENCON2023 to expand our domestic connection to more countries in Southeast Asia.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Research on cross-cultural analysis of emotional expressions, with a focus on facial expressions, has progressed well. We have published our work related to this research in 2 international journals, 3 international conference papers, and 2 presentations at the domestic workshop. In terms of international collaboration, we have established the relationship with the overseas researchers in Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia, with the potential to expand this collaboration in the future.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
We plan to collect more data for deep learning-based analysis with our international partner in Thailand, and to expand our sample space to other countries in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam or Malaysia. We are also looking for a way to extend our work to other types of features that represent emotional expression, such as gait or posture.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The cost of the computing server increased significantly due to the increase in the price of electronic equipment, exceeding the total of payable amount by this funding. Therefore, the purchase process was temporarily suspended. To alleviate the problem of computing resources, the principal investigator has changed his purchase plan to use the online cloud services or upgrade the existing computing server in his research unit in FY2024.
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