📝 Infos

• 🔬 - Application for manual video analysis
• 🎭 - Reproduction of theatre masks

• 🎓 – University research project
• 👁️ – Analysis of faces by blind and sighted people
• 🤝 - Collaboration with University of Lyon 2
• 🤝 - Collaboration with Lycée Polyvalent Aragon-Picasso

• 🎨 – Blender
• ⚙️ – Unity, C#
• 🖥️ - 🍎 MacOS 🪟 Windows

📚 Context

In the context of a research project focused on analyzing faces between blind and sighted individuals.

I participated in the reproduction of emotional masks based on those created by Canadian artist Melody Anderson.

The original theatre masks, unique and made of papier mâché, were too fragile to be transported.

We used photogrammetry to reconstruct 3D models of these masks. I ensured the retopology of the entire emotional masks, the modeling of a reinforcement structure, the management of weight/price/strength ratios, and coordination with the team responsible for SLS 3D printing.

original mask in Canada

copy of the mask being explored in Lyon

These emotional masks were intended to be explored with the hands by blind people or those with their eyes covered.

These manual explorations filmed are then analyzed to obtain a spreadsheet describing the position of each finger over time, allowing subsequent data processing and statistical analysis of the areas of interest explored by participants.

neutral face with it coding grid

Results after processing in a spreadsheet

🖥️ Application

Gridface is the application that facilitates the analysis and behavioral coding of videos of hands exploring masks.

After loading a video, the analyst can navigate through it. Each time he moves, the grid fills with the known positions of the fingers. He can also modify the view of the video: zoom, offset.

Interface

• on left side
  • menu to load a video
  • controls to navigate through the video
  • visual of the video at time T
  • finger palette
• on right side
  • grid that indicates the presence or absence of a finger
  • a neutral face created from a morphing of a hundred faces

finger selection shortcuts

video control shortcuts

Coding

In early versions, only the keyboard (holding the right key) allowed to choose a finger and the mouse to assign it to the right cell (click position) and to the right hand (left or right click).

In last versions, it is also possible to drag and drop fingers from the palette, making the app even more accessible to researchers.

Navigation

Researchers can navigate through the video with the timeline, keyboard arrows or interface buttons.

In their feedback, they asked to be able to copy the keys from the start to the end. It is useful when most of the fingers stayed fixed for several frames.

Unity

I chose Unity as the tool for this application, because the interface had to be improved according to the continuous feedback of researchers and my mastery of the engine allowed me to be reactive and easily adapt to the needs of the project.

🎭 Original Masks

angry mask

fear mask

joy mask

sad mask

sneer mask

suprise mask