{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T16:02:07Z","timestamp":1780070527965,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780012800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":28,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777593600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100014826","name":"ADAPT - Centre for Digital Content Technology","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["13\/RC\/2106P_2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["13\/RC\/2106P_2"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100014826","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Computer Animation &amp;amp; Virtual"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Facial expressions are a crucial part of affective communication in our daily lives, and the same applies to virtual humans. However, achieving a full range of believable and naturalistic emotional expression via VR devices still remains a challenge, particularly when constrained by the capabilities of midrange consumer VR devices without face tracking as opposed to the more expensive versions with facial tracking capabilities. In this study, we evaluated and compared three methods to control avatar facial expression in VR: continuous face tracking (FT); thumbstick label (TL), which is a VR controller's thumbstick\u2010based selection method with visually labeled expression; and thumbstick label with confirmation button (TB), which is a variation of TL with an additional step of pressing a button. Thirty participants took part in the experiment. Participants found FT to be significantly more usable than TL and TB. While TL was comparable to FT on co\u2010presence and several items of expressiveness, with significant gaps emerging mainly for naturalness and smoothness in expression change. These findings suggest that a well\u2010designed control method with low latency and low motor and cognitive load can serve as an alternative method of avatar control in VR devices without facial tracking technology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/cav.70137","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T15:05:01Z","timestamp":1780067101000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Making Faces: Evaluating Facial Control Methods in\n                    <scp>VR<\/scp>\n                    for Live Conversations"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"37","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-8782-5797","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"J. K. Sangeeth","family":"Chandran","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Computer Science Technological University Dublin  Ireland"},{"name":"ADAPT Research  Ireland Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marisa Llorens","family":"Salvador","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Computer Science Technological University Dublin  Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cathy","family":"Ennis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ADAPT Research  Ireland Ireland"},{"name":"Department of Computer Science Maynooth University  Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_2_13_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1186\/s42492-024-00174-7","article-title":"A Study on the Influence of Situations on Personal Avatar Characteristics","volume":"7","author":"Hube N.","year":"2024","journal-title":"Visual Computing for Industry, Biomedicine, and Art"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1012","DOI":"10.1080\/10494820.2022.2107681","article-title":"Enhance Affective Expression and Social Reciprocity for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Using Virtual Reality Headsets at Schools","volume":"32","author":"Ip H. H. S.","year":"2024","journal-title":"Interactive Learning Environments"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20626","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-76672-4","article-title":"Facial Expressions Contribute More Than Body Movements to Conversational Outcomes in Avatar\u2010Mediated Virtual Environments","volume":"10","author":"Kruzic C. O.","year":"2020","journal-title":"Scientific Reports"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100432","DOI":"10.1016\/j.invent.2021.100432","article-title":"Virtual Reality Facial Emotion Recognition in Social Environments: An Eye\u2010Tracking Study","volume":"25","author":"Geraets C. N. W.","year":"2021","journal-title":"Internet Interventions"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5869","DOI":"10.1007\/s00371-022-02700-1","article-title":"The Effect of Avatar Facial Expressions on Trust Building in Social Virtual Reality","volume":"39","author":"Luo L.","year":"2022","journal-title":"Visual Computer"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1145\/2522628.2522633","volume-title":"Proceedings of Motion on Games, MIG \u201813","author":"Ennis C.","year":"2013"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2206","DOI":"10.1109\/TVCG.2024.3372051","article-title":"Exploring the Influence of Virtual Avatar Heads in Mixed Reality on Social Presence, Performance and User Experience in Collaborative Tasks","volume":"30","author":"Combe T.","year":"2024","journal-title":"IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2608","DOI":"10.1109\/TVCG.2021.3067783","article-title":"The Influence of Avatar Representation on Interpersonal Communication in Virtual Social Environments","volume":"27","author":"Aseeri S. 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