Affective Modelling: Profiling geometrical models with human emotional Responses

In this paper, a novel concept, Affective Modelling, is introduced to encapsulate the idea of creating 3D models based on the emotional responses that they may invoke. Research on perceptually-related issues in Computer Graphics focuses mostly on the rendering aspect. Low-level perceptual criteria taken from established Psychology theories or identified by purposefully-designed experiments are utilised to reduce rendering effort or derive quality evaluation schemes. For modelling, similar ideas have been applied to optimise the level of geometrical details. High-level cognitive responses such as emotions/feelings are less addressed in graphics literatures. This paper investigates the possibility of incorporating emotional/affective factors for 3D model creations. Using a glasses frame model as our test case, we demonstrate a methodological framework to build the links between human emotional responses and geometrical features. We design and carry out a factorial experiment to systematically analyse how certain shape factors individually and interactively influence the viewer's impression of the shape of glasses frames. The findings serve as a basis for establishing computational models that facilitate emotionally-guided 3D modelling.