Toru Nakata, Taketoshi Mori and Tomomasa Sato

Abstract:
A set of physical feature values is proposed in order to explain impression produced by bodily expression. The concept of designing the value set is based on Laban Movement Analysis which is a famous theory in body move-ment psychology. Impressions produced by body expression are closely related to these feature values. Each of the feature values is defined mathematically, so that it is easy to implement in a computer. Also the feature values are calculated on general body movements. Therefore, the set can be implemented in body expression systems of robots and computer graphics bodies in order to facilitate quantitative evaluation and forecast of impression produced by their bodies. This paper describes the concept and an example of implementation on a robot. Validity of the set is verified in an experiment.

Keywords: bodily expression, quantitative evaluation of impression, laban Movement analysis, dancing robot, nonverbal communication