Report

Here is the final report and bibliography. I had some difficulties getting the file to upload to the site, so I just copied and pasted. Please don't edit this page, since this is the final report that we're handing in. If anything looks weird (i.e. the footnotes), don't worry, it doesn't look like this in the actual report. The paper copy also includes a title page. - Isabel

Introduction: To be innovative, something must be new; it can’t have ever been done before. It must offer a different perspective, opinion or voice. To have an audience, something must be engaging; it has to be of interest and relevance. It must be accessible, intelligible and clear. To make something a reality, one must make use of available materials, technology and support.

//Facetim//e aims to delight and intrigue visitors of Ontario Science Centre by bringing together art, science and mathematics. It explores cultural, mathematical and biological venues of interest concerning emotion, emotional expression and the brain by making use of modern and engaging technology. It offers a visual representation of the connectedness of all humans regardless of age, gender or race. It allows visitors to leave something of themselves at the centre and take something home from the centre. It allows visitors to collaborate in a constructive and literal way.

Visitor Interaction: Approaching //Facetime//, visitors will see a large screen. On it will be a moving face made up of the unique features of previous visitors. One may see recorded footage of a young, Chinese man’s nose; the right and left eye of an elderly woman and a teenaged-boy, respectively; the mouth of an Indian man in his mid-40s. All of these distinct features come together to form one expressive face.

Above this moving image, displayed in text, there is a situation to which one would react with emotional expression (e.g. failing a math test). It is implied that the visitor should attempt to create a situation-appropriate expression when making their recording or manipulating the face.

To contribute to //Facetime//, a visitor may make a recording of their right or left eye, their nose or their mouth. Stations, which are accessible to all visitors including young children and wheelchair-bound visitors, surrounding //Facetime// will be supplied with video cameras for this purpose. A head-rest, which supports from the chin, allows the visitor to rest his or her head comfortably while he or she makes a recording and ensures that the face is fully visible to the camera. The video cameras will be movable to allow a recording of any of the aforementioned facial features at any station. Equally, visitors may be able to make recordings with personal electronic devices such as cell phones and incorporate them into //Facetime//.

After the visitor has made a recording, he or she may then move to the screen and navigate using an infrared remote (likely an infrared pen or Wii remote). The visitor will have access to his or her own recent recording along with a database of recent recordings from other visitors. He or she may replace any of the existing facial features of //Facetime// with his or her own or a recording from the available database. As WIFC does not aim to bombard people with scientific facts, the information surrounding the exhibit will be minimal. However, conspicuously displayed will be a link to a website connected to the exhibit which will offer more information along with activities related to the exhibit (possibly including an at-home, internet-based //Facetime//) and relevant links.

Departing //Facetime//, visitors may be given the option to print out a still photograph of the current face which they may take home with them or leave at the centre in an archive book called //Facebook//. Visitors may also be given IDEA cards, similar to those used in the stop-motion animation exhibit in WIFC which will allow them to view faces or recordings from their home computer.

Topics and Questions of Interest: These topics and questions are either answered in the section titled //Relevant Science// or are considered an area of interest for possible, further research related to the exhibit.


 * How does one define emotion?
 * Does one feel and then express or express and then feel?
 * Visible characteristics of specific emotions
 * Do different cultures express the same emotions differently?
 * The role of the brain, the nervous system and muscles in emotional expression
 * If a stroke renders one paralysed, does this affect one’s ability to emote?
 * Proportions of the human face
 * The Golden Ratio (Phi) and the human face
 * How do symmetry, proportion, etc. affect one’s idea of beauty?

Relevant Science: One typically thinks of emotion as what one is feeling in response to a situation or thought. This, however, is a somewhat intangible thing, something which cannot be held on to or imagined in any physical sense. To provide a concrete definition, one must consider emotion in a more physical sense, essentially: emotional expression. In this way, one may venture that emotion is observable verbal or nonverbal behaviour which conveys emotional experience. This behaviour may be done with or without self-awareness, though it is, at least, somewhat controllable [1].

To be expressively confident, one must be able to deploy a situation-appropriate emotional expression. Individuals who are very expressively confident are found to be in good control of their own emotions and are more likely to have positive interactions and relationships with their peers and family. Contrastingly, individuals who frequently display negative emotional expression are found to experience negative emotions more often and are less likely to have positive interactions and relationships 1.

Regulation of one’s emotions is important for expressive confidence. Emotion may be regulated at five different stages in its process of formation: 1) selection of the situation, 2) modification of the situation, 3) deployment of attention, 4) change of cognitions and 5) modulation of responses. It is clear that the expression of emotion plays a fundamental role in the formation and processing of emotion 1.

Over the years, different theorists have hypothesized on which emotions are the most basic and have all other emotions stemming from them. Robert Plutchik offered that the basic emotions were acceptance, anger, anticipation, disgust, joy, fear, sadness and surprise. Nico Frijda hypothesized that they were desire, happiness, interest, surprise, wonder and sorrow. Jaak Panksepp suggested they were simply expectancy, fear, rage and panic [2].

One may also conceive of secondary and tertiary emotions related to basic emotions. For example, if one takes anger as the primary emotion, secondary emotions may be irritation, exasperation, rage, disgust, envy and torment with each having its own set of tertiary emotions. Rage, for example, outrage, fury, wrath, hostility, ferocity, bitterness, hate, loathing, scorn, spite, vengefulness, dislike and resentment all as tertiary emotions 2.

Every emotion, however it’s defined, comes with an array of physical characteristics which are commonly used to express a particular emotion and which generally inform others of one’s emotional mindset at that particular moment. For example, surprise can be observed from [|eyes] which are wide open with raised eyebrows, a wide open [|mouth] with a lowered [|chin] and a [|head] held back or tilted to the side 2.

Muscular anatomy is crucial to emotional expression as it is the structure which allows for the physical expression of emotion. Facial muscles, also known as mimetic muscles, are controlled by nerves in the brainstem, specifically CN VII (facial nerve, the seventh of twelve paired cranial nerves) and CN V (trigeminal nerve, the fifth of twelve paired cranial nerves). These particular nerves are found amongst other such nerves which manage automatic aspects of behaviour and physiology. These nerves transfer electrochemical impulses originating in the brain to mimetic muscles, essentially allowing one to emote [3].

CN VII (the facial nerve) emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla. It controls the muscles of the face and the sensation of taste in the front two-thirds of the tongue. It consists of 10,000 neurons and has a large root which serves to innervate the facial muscles and a smaller root which contains sensory and autonomic fibres. Should the facial be damaged, paralysis to facial muscles known as Bell’s palsy may result as well as a lose of taste sensation in the front two-thirds of the tongue. CN V (the trigeminal nerve) is responsible for sensation in the face [4].

One system, created by Wallace Friesen and Paul Ekman in 1976, known as the Facial Action Coding System allows one to classify specific facial movements and thus the specific muscles involved in emotional expression. The system works by referring to Action Unit numbers (with 0 being the lowest) which qualify the degree of movement of a particular aspect of expression. For example, a raise of the inner brow is considered to have an Action Unit of 1, while a drop of the jaw has 26. Since its creation, the system has become popular with psychologists and animators alike [5].

While beauty is certainly subjective, mathematics plays a large role in what many humans typically classify as a beautiful face. The Golden Ratio, also known as the Divine Proportion, Divine Ratio, the Golden Section, the Golden Mean or simply Phi is 1.618. It can be observed in the pyramids of Giza, the Parthenon at Athens and in the human face. If one draws a perfect square between the pupils and the corners of the mouth, the golden section of any of these sides defines the length of the nose, the width of the nostrils, the distance between the two eyes and the two eyebrows and the distance from the corner of the mouth to the chin. If one takes the subsequent golden section of the aforementioned line, it defines the width of the eye and the distance between the two nostrils. If one again takes the subsequent golden section of the aforementioned line, it defines the distance from the upper lip to the bottom of the nose and several dimensions of the eye [6].

Technology: Three popular examples of touch screens are resistive (pressure sensitive), capacitive (electrostatic) and IR (infrared). A resistive touch screen is essentially two layers of material with spacer dots between them and electricity passing through the two layers. In the event of contact, a chain is formed and the amount of electricity passing between the layers is measured to determine the point of touch. This particular variety of touch screen is inexpensive, but allows for only touch which is not conducive to the collaborate theme behind //Facetime//. The capacitive touch screen has one layer covered with electro-conductive material which provides a continuous current with a particular frequency. When it is touched with an object emitting a constant electric flow, a change in current occurs and the point of contact is determined. There are two types of infrared touch screens: heat sensitive and optical. Heat sensitive infrared technology relies on the assumption that whatever is touching the screen will be emitting enough heat that the point of contact can be determined. This could create some issues of accessibility for visitor interaction. Optical infrared technology relies on infrared beams [7].

Although it was intended as a controller for the Nintendo Wii, one may employ a Wii remote as an inexpensive alternative to a traditional optical infrared device as it contains a high performance infrared camera which allows it all of the same capacities. Its camera has the ability to track infrared emitters; once calibrated, the camera can see infrared dots on a vertical plane parallel to a screen, as well as depth by the strength of the signal. The Wii remote can then be connected to a computer using Bluetooth technology. Running the whole system through the Wii remote //Whiteboard Program//, developed by Johnny Lee, the Wii remote is able to serve as the equivalent to a multi-touch //Smartboard// [8].

Bibliography:

"Anatomy of the Face and Head Underlying Facial Expression." //A Human Face//. Web. 12 May 2010. .

Details the physiology and anatomy behind facial expression. That is: the role of the brain, skeleton and muscles in emotional expression.

"Article: Touchscreen Technologies in Phones Page2 (Phone Arena News)." //Cell Phone Reviews, News and Specs - Phone Arena//. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. .

Discusses the pros and cons of the different varieties of touch screen technology.

"Basic Emotions." //Changing Minds and Persuasion -- How We Change What// //Others Think, Believe, Feel and Do//. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. .

Explores the concept of primary or basic emotions. Offers what different theorists believed these basic emotions are and some information regarding secondary and tertiary emotions which stem from a primary emotion.

"Emotional Expression.” //Emotional Processing Site//. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. . Summarises the works of several well-known psychologists. Provides a definition for emotional expression and information pertaining to expressive confidence and emotional regulation.

"Facial Action Coding System." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 16 May 2010. .

Details a taxonomical system created by Wallace Friesen and Paul Ekman which qualifies different facial mechanisms by a numerical scale based on varying degrees of movement/expression.

"Human Face." //Phi: 1.618. The Best Source to the Golden Section, Golden Mean, Divine// //Proportion, Fibonacci Series and Phi, 1.618. Explore Its Application to Art, Design, Life, Beauty, Mathematics, Geometry, Stock Markets, Theology, Cosmology and More.// Web. 16 May 2010. .

Discusses the significance of the Golden Ratio to facial proportions and human beauty. "Johnny Chung Lee - Projects - Wii." //Johnny Chung Lee - Human Computer// //Interaction Research//. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. .

Explores the possibility of using a Wii remote as opposed to typical IR technology.

"The Cranial Nerves." //B E C O M E H E a L T H Y N O W. C O M - Chiropractic,// //Nutrition and Contact Reflex Analysis; Your Source for Reliable Natural Health Information//. Web. 12 May 2010. .

Details the function and role of cranial nerves, particularly the CN VII and the CN V.

[1] n. d. Retrieved April 28, 2010 from [] [2] n. d. Retried Aprial 28, 2010 from []. [3] n. d. Retrieved May 12, 2010 from []. [4] n. d. Retried May 12, 2010 from []. [5] 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010 from []. [6] n. d. Retrieved May 16, 2010 from []. [7] 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2010 from []. [8] n. d. Lee, Johnny. Retrieved April 1, 2010 from [].