A Novel Face-tracking Mouth Controller and its Application to Interacting with Bioacoustic Models

We describe a simple, computationally light, real-time system for tracking the lower face and extracting information about the shape of the open mouth from a video sequence. The system allows unencumbered control of audio synthesis modules by the action of the mouth. We report work in progress to use the mouth controller to interact with a physical model of sound production by the avian syrinx.