The Noh Mask Effect Vertical Viewpoint Dependence of Facial Expression Perception.pdfVIP

/ doi 10.1098 rspb.2000.1274 T he Noh mask effect : vert ical v iew point dependence of facial exp ression perce ption 1* 2 1 2 Michael J. Lyons , Ruth Campbell , Andre Plante , Mike Coleman , Miyuki Kamachi3 and Shigeru Akamatsu3 1 Advanced Telecommunications Research International Media Integration and Communications Research Laboratories and 3Advanced Telecommunications Research International Human Information Processing Research Laboratories, 2- 2- 2 Hikari -dai, Seika -cho, Soraku-gun, Kyot o 619 - 0288, Japa n 2Dep artment of Human Communication Science, University College London, Chandler House, 2 Wake¢ eld Street, London WC1N 1PG, UK Full-face masks, worn by skilled actors in the Noh tradition, can induce a variety of perceived expressions with changes in head orientation. Out-of-plane rotation of the head changes the two-dimensional image characteristic s of the face which viewers may misinterpret as non-rigid changes due to muscle action. Three experiments with J apanese and British viewers explored this e¡ect. Experiment 1 con¢rmed a systematic relationship between vertical angle of view of a Noh mask and judge d a¡ect. A forward tilted mask was more often judge d happy, and one backward tilted more often judge d sad. This e¡ect was moderated by culture. J apanese viewers ascribed happiness to the mask at greater degrees of backward tilt with a reversal towards sadness at extreme forward angles. Cropping the facial image of chin and upper head contour r