A facial sketch animation generator for mobile communication

The ability to analyze and reproduce specific-person facial expression is an important multimedia content service for mobile communication. In this paper, a novel three-layer facial animation model is presented for generating the personalized facial sketch animation, and the three layers are motion sequence layer, the reference shape layer, and the painting shape layer. Based on the model, a facial sketch animation generator was implemented, allowing mobile subscribers to communicate using personalized facial sketch animations created from face snapshot taken by their phone's camera. The sender takes a snapshot of someone's face and transmits it to a multimedia content server, which then generates the specific-person facial sketch image or animation sequence. The server sends the image or animation to the receiver in multimedia message (MMS). The implementation of the generator architecture is low-cost and feasible for multimedia content service in mobile communication.