Authors:
Reuben Fleming
1
;
Betty J. Mohler
2
;
Javier Romero
3
;
Michael J. Black
3
and
Martin Breidt
2
Affiliations:
1
Sheffield Hallam University and Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, United Kingdom
;
2
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Germany
;
3
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany
Keyword(s):
3D Body Scan, Stylization, Avatar, Perception, Virtual Character.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Computer Vision, Visualization and Computer Graphics
;
Emotion and Personality
;
Non-Photorealistic Rendering, Painting-Like Rendering, Drawing
;
Rendering
;
Social Agents and Avatars
;
Social Agents in Computer Graphics
Abstract:
Advances in 3D scanning technology allow us to create realistic virtual avatars from full body 3D scan data.
However, negative reactions to some realistic computer generated humans suggest that this approach might
not always provide the most appealing results. Using styles derived from existing popular character designs,
we present a novel automatic stylization technique for body shape and colour information based on a statistical
3D model of human bodies. We investigate whether such stylized body shapes result in increased perceived
appeal with two different experiments: One focuses on body shape alone, the other investigates the additional
role of surface colour and lighting. Our results consistently show that the most appealing avatar is a partially
stylized one. Importantly, avatars with high stylization or no stylization at all were rated to have the least
appeal. The inclusion of colour information and improvements to render quality had no significant effect on
the overall perc
eived appeal of the avatars, and we observe that the body shape primarily drives the change
in appeal ratings. For body scans with colour information, we found that a partially stylized avatar was most
effective, increasing average appeal ratings by approximately 34%.
(More)