Learning about smiling from a 3D animated model

It is apparently quite simple to nail the perfect smile. Just keep your lips at an angle of 13-17 degrees and the width between a third and two-thirds of the distance between your pupils.

But watch out. Showing too much teeth or not enough teeth can spoil it. Too much teeth is usually the problem.

Then there's the symmetry of the smile's movement to consider.

It's okay to start the smile at one side of the mouth slightly early. In fact, that can be even more attractive than a smile that starts exactly the same time at each side of the face.

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Just published research from the University of Minnesota has revealed new levels of understanding on what makes smiles work or not.

It will be of more technical use to surgeons trying to build a smile back into a damaged face than a social butterfly wanting an edge at a party. 

The breakthrough technology was to use a 3D computer animation model of a man smiling instead of static images of actors. 

By using a computer animation, minute changes could be made to how the smile develops - the timing and movement of a smile - and these were tested for appeal on 802 people. 

Researcher Dr Nathaniel Helwig said successful smiles were those rated effective, genuine and pleasant.

Helwig said the research clarified debate on how important showing teeth is to a smile.

Showing teeth is significant in a smile's success. But it depends on the width and angles of the mouth.

Lots of teeth are bad for small straight smiles, it can make people show contempt or fear, but it's not so important for medium smiles, and plenty of teeth were a good thing for deep wide smiles - up to a point. 

The research was published in the Public Library of Science ONE.

 

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