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.