Analysis and Modelling of Affective Japanese Sitting Postures

Not only facial expressions but also body gestures and postures play an important role in non-verbal communication. Whilst evidence shows that affective standing postures account for at least four affective dimensions - arousal, valence, potency and avoidance - it is not clear if the same is true for sitting postures. We investigated the perception of sitting postures and the body descriptors that guide these perceptual processes. Japanese body postures were collected and measured through conventional sensors. Japanese observers were recruited for the study. The results show that, for Japanese observers, the three dimensions of arousal, valence and dominance were necessary to account for most of the variance in the perception of the set of affective postures. It also showed that, for Japanese observers, the rating of dominance was modulated by the position of the legs, arms and trunk. We build an emotion estimation system in real time and evaluate the system.