Revisiting Micro and Macro Expressions in Computer Graphics Characters

This paper presents the reproduction of two studies focused on the perception of micro and macro expressions of Virtual Humans (VHs) generated by Computer Graphics (CG), first described in 2014 and replicated in 2021. The 2014 study referred to a VH realistic, whereas, in 2021, it referred to a VH cartoon. In our work, we replicate the study by using a realistic CG character. Our main goals are to compare the perceptions of micro and macro expressions between levels of realism (2021 cartoon versus 2023 realistic) and between realistic characters in different periods (i.e., 2014 versus 2023). In one of our results, people more easily recognized micro expressions in realistic VHs than in a cartoon VH. In another result, we show that the participants' perception was similar for both micro and macro expressions in 2014 and 2023.