The Expression of Gender in Synthetic Actors: Modeling and Motion Control Over Invariant Perceptual Cues Leading to Gender Recognition

A perception based strategy for communicating the gender of computer animated characters is evaluated. Motivated by the idea that effective character animation involves the expression of character traits through motion, this study builds upon previous work in the areas of computer animation and ecological psychology in an effort to more fully characterize the dynamic information which leads to the perception of gender. Information specifying the masculinity or femininity of a walking figure is considered in relation to the range across which the indexes may be exaggerated and applied to objects not normally considered male or female.