A head movement propensity model for animating gaze shifts and blinks of virtual characters

An automatic model is presented for animating gaze shifts of virtual characters towards target locations in a virtual environment. Two connected components are described: an eye–head controller and a blinking controller. The gaze control model is based on results from neuroscience, and dictates the contributions of the eyes and head to a gaze shift according to an individual’s head movement propensity; that is, their tendency to recruit their head when making gaze motions under different conditions. The blink controller simulates gaze-evoked blinking, a specific category of behaviours that accompany gaze shifts. The probability of occurrence of such blinks, and their amplitude, is related to the gaze shift. The model forms the basis for a number of experiments investigating the impact of blinking, eye–head ratio and direction of head movements on user perception. In addition to other application domains, the findings are of significance to serious games environments, where the perceived quality of a character’s gaze may affect engagement, immersion and learning outcomes. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.