iMime: An Interactive Character Animation System for use in Dementia Care

We describe the design and implementation of an interactive character animation interface. The system analyzes the attentive state and aspects of the affective behaviour of a viewer using input from a video camera and uses this to control the behaviour of a cartoon-like animated character. Using the interaction metaphor of a mime artist, we design the system to encourage viewer attention and interaction, with adaptation using an online reinforcement learning based on the viewer's attentive state. This work is ultimately aimed at developing a system to support the care of dementia sufferers.