A wearable system (200, 400) for animating a user's face during speech, the wearable system (200, 400) comprising: an inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) configured to capture images, the inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) comprising one or more cameras (1160a, 1160b) positioned such that, when the wearable system (200, 400) is worn by the user, a periocular region of a user's face is observable by the inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) and the user's lower face is unobservable by the inward-facing imaging system; an audio sensor configured to receive the user's speech; a hardware processor programmed to: acquire an image, via the inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) when the wearable system (200, 400) is worn by the user, of the periocular region of the user; generate, based at least partly on the image of the periocular region of the user, periocular face parameters encoding a periocular conformation of at least the periocular region of the user; acquire, by the audio sensor, an audio stream spoken by the user; identify a phoneme in the audio stream; access a mapping wherein an input of the mapping comprises the phoneme and the image of the periocular region of the user and wherein an output of the mapping comprises lower face parameters encoding a lower face conformation of at least the lower face of the user and that are deduced from an analysis of the phoneme and the image of the periocular region of the user; and apply the mapping to the image of the periocular region of the user to generate lower face parameters; combine the periocular face parameters and the lower face parameters to generate full face parameters associated with a three-dimensional, 3D, face model; and generate an animation of the user's face based at least in part on the full face parameters. an inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) configured to capture images, the inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) comprising one or more cameras (1160a, 1160b) positioned such that, when the wearable system (200, 400) is worn by the user, a periocular region of a user's face is observable by the inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) and the user's lower face is unobservable by the inward-facing imaging system; an audio sensor configured to receive the user's speech; a hardware processor programmed to: acquire an image, via the inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) when the wearable system (200, 400) is worn by the user, of the periocular region of the user; generate, based at least partly on the image of the periocular region of the user, periocular face parameters encoding a periocular conformation of at least the periocular region of the user; acquire, by the audio sensor, an audio stream spoken by the user; identify a phoneme in the audio stream; access a mapping wherein an input of the mapping comprises the phoneme and the image of the periocular region of the user and wherein an output of the mapping comprises lower face parameters encoding a lower face conformation of at least the lower face of the user and that are deduced from an analysis of the phoneme and the image of the periocular region of the user; and apply the mapping to the image of the periocular region of the user to generate lower face parameters; combine the periocular face parameters and the lower face parameters to generate full face parameters associated with a three-dimensional, 3D, face model; and generate an animation of the user's face based at least in part on the full face parameters. acquire an image, via the inward-facing imaging system (462, 1160) when the wearable system (200, 400) is worn by the user, of the periocular region of the user; generate, based at least partly on the image of the periocular region of the user, periocular face parameters encoding a periocular conformation of at least the periocular region of the user; acquire, by the audio sensor, an audio stream spoken by the user; identify a phoneme in the audio stream; access a mapping wherein an input of the mapping comprises the phoneme and the image of the periocular region of the user and wherein an output of the mapping comprises lower face parameters encoding a lower face conformation of at least the lower face of the user and that are deduced from an analysis of the phoneme and the image of the periocular region of the user; and apply the mapping to the image of the periocular region of the user to generate lower face parameters; combine the periocular face parameters and the lower face parameters to generate full face parameters associated with a three-dimensional, 3D, face model; and generate an animation of the user's face based at least in part on the full face parameters.