The FACE robot is capable of mimicking facial expressions. The
basic expressions used for the generation of more complex facial
states are inspired by the six basic expressions identified by
Ekman (Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness, Surprise).
Working on this direction we are trying to improve the FACE
credibility focusing on a field which is largely explored in the
Japanese robotic community under the umbrella of “the Uncanny
valley” paradigm. The human face is equipped with a complex
physical structure and it has more than 100 muscles situated
between skin surface and skull with very different shapes and
functionality. They allow us to control even minimal muscular
movements and to generate a myriad of different facial
expressions. The positions of the servo motors try to reflect
the ones of the facial muscles to simulate expressions in a very
realistic way. Servo motors actuates the skin along vectors
corresponding to the natural muscle actions of the face,
enabling animation control in an intuitive