Capturing Dynamics: The 4D Facial Expression Intensity Dataset

Abstract

The estimation and analysis of facial expression intensity play a crucial role in affective communication and human-computer interaction. Previous research has primarily focused on detecting and estimating facial expression intensity from frame-level 2D representations. However, this limitation restricts a comprehensive understanding of real-world facial expressions, as they are inherently 3D and temporally continuous. This paper investigates the perception of facial expression intensity by introducing the 4D Facial Expression Intensity Dataset (4DFEID). We employ a parametric face model and compile a total of 2,869 mesh sequences with controlled geometric variations, generating 4D data instances with diverse peak intensities and identity attributes. Using a Likert scale, we collect more than 90,000 subjective intensity perception ratings via a crowdsourcing platform. We explore various architectures and aggregation methods to establish baselines for episode intensity estimation on the new dataset, revealing that spatial-temporal graph models consistently outperform traditional frame-aggregation methods. In contrast to existing datasets that rely on 2D static imagery, the proposed 4D-FEID dataset provides the community with a unique and vital resource for investigating the perception of facial expression intensity through the use of dynamic 3D stimuli. By offering high-fidelity, spatio-temporally coherent facial data, 4D-FEID establishes a new foundation for research into more nuanced and naturalistic expression analysis, thereby addressing a gap in the current landscape of affective computing and human-computer interaction studies. The dataset is available at link.

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