Patent Document ID: 20130154980
Application ID: 13720501
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. An apparatus for visually depicting an emotional state, the apparatus comprising: a computing system including a processor coupled to a display screen and one more user input devices with the processor configured to: display a facial expression image on the display screen, with the facial expression image in the form of a background shape having graphic indicia of facial features displayed within the background shape, where facial features indicated by the graphic indicia include at least a mouth, a pair of eyes and a pair of eyebrows; accept a first signal from the one or more of the user input devices indicating a polarity value, selected from a plurality of polarity values, of an emotional state to be depicted by a facial expression image, with the polarity value controlling whether the emotional state causes the facial expression image depicting the emotional state to tend toward a smile or a frown; change the shape and position of the graphic indicia of the facial features on the facial expression image to express an emotional state characterized by a received polarity value; accept a second signal from the one or more of the user input devices indicating an activity value, selected from a plurality of activity values, of an emotional state to be depicted by a facial expression image, with the activity value controlling whether the emotional state causes the facial expression image depicting the emotional state to express an emotional state tending toward being either active or extroverted at one end of a continuum or passive or introverted at the other end of the continuum; change the shape and position of the graphic indicia of the facial features on the facial expression image to express an emotional state characterized by a received activity value; accept a first signal from the one or more of the user input devices indicating a receptivity value, selected from a plurality of receptivity values, of an emotional state to be depicted by a facial expression image, with the receptivity value controlling whether the facial expression image depicting the emotional state is harder and more pinched or softer and more open; and change the shape and position of the graphic indicia of the facial features on the facial expression image to express an emotional state characterized by a received receptivity value.