Research on emotion recognition from facial expressions has found evidence of different muscle movements between genuine and posed smiles. To further confirm discrete movement intensities of each facial segment, we explored differences in facial expressions between spontaneous and posed smiles with three-dimensional facial landmarks. Advanced machine analysis was adopted to measure changes in the dynamics of 68 segmented facial regions. A total of 57 normal adults (19 men, 38 women) who displayed adequate posed and spontaneous facial expressions for happiness were included in the analyses. The results indicate that spontaneous smiles have higher intensities for upper face than lower face. On the other hand, posed smiles showed higher intensities in the lower part of the face. Furthermore, the 3D facial landmark technique revealed that the left eyebrow displayed stronger intensity during spontaneous smiles than the right eyebrow. These findings suggest a potential application of landmark based emotion recognition that spontaneous smiles can be distinguished from posed smiles via measuring relative intensities between the upper and lower face with a focus on left-sided asymmetry in the upper region.

This study attempted to investigate the role of presence in an anxiety-inducing virtual reality (VR) experience and explain possible individual differences in the feeling of presence. More specifically, it was investigated if the feeling of presence (a) differed by personality and (b) affected individual levels of anxiety. This study utilized the psychobiological model of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) to study personality in the context of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET). In total, thirty six individuals participated in a lab experiment in which anxiety-inducing VR content was experienced through a head-mounted display. The results suggested that individuals with high levels of cooperativeness and selftranscendence experienced increased levels of presence, which further enhanced cognitive anxiety levels. On a physiological level, cooperativeness and reward dependence enhanced somatic anxiety (respiration), but presence was not a significant mediating factor.