Patent ID: 8612228

Claim:
A method of controlling a mouth shape of an animated character on a display that is implemented by a processor, the method comprising: estimating by the processor the shape of a vocal tract of a speaker during speaking by analyzing sound data of the speaker's voice and estimating the shape based on (i) an open area of the vocal tract, (ii) a cross-sectional area within a given mouth-side range of the vocal tract, and (iii) a cross-sectional area within a given throat-side range of the vocal tract that is closer to a throat side of the vocal tract than the given mouth-side range; and controlling using the processor, the mouth shape of the animated character using the estimated shape of the vocal tract, including controlling a vertical dimension of the mouth of the character based on the cross-sectional area within the given throat-side range and controlling a size of the mouth of the animated character based on the cross-sectional area within the given mouth-side range; displaying the animated character, using the display; controlling the output voice of the animated character based on the sound data; and controlling the mouth shape of the character in synchronization with the output voice.