Human-centered face computing in multimedia interaction and communication

Facial image computing has been an extensively studied topic since its wide applications in human-centered computing, human-avatar interaction, virtual reality, and multimedia communication. Successful systems have been equipped with realistic face models, efficient compression algorithms, reliable animation techniques and user friendly interaction schemes. In this chapter, we will mainly focus on techniques, algorithms, models, applications and real-world systems. Comprehensive summarization of the state-of-the-art works will be presented as well as our experiences and contributions in the field, especially several real prototype systems developed in our group, such as the online interactive gaming system hMouse, humanoid emotive audio-visual avatar, and 3D face/head tracking based video compression. Performances of these three systems are also illustrated based on standard evaluations.