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Everything about Facial Action Coding System
System of classifying human facial movements
The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is a system to taxonomize human facial movements by their appearance on the face, based on a system originally developed by a Swedish anatomist named Carl-Herman Hjortsjö. It was later adopted by Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen, and published in 1978. Ekman, Friesen, and Joseph C. Hager published a significant update to FACS in 2002. Movements of individual facial muscles are encoded by the FACS from slight different instant changes in facial appearance. It has proven useful to psychologists and to animators. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Facial Action Coding SystemA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: CalliFACS: The common marmoset Facial Action Coding SystemInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: What the face revealsThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Automated Facial Action Coding System for dynamic analysis of facial expressions in neuropsychiatric disordersCited 250 times
- Go sideways: Facial expressionA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Paul EkmanA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
No dictionary entry for this exact phrase.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Automated Facial Action Coding System for dynamic analysis of facial expressions in neuropsychiatric disorders
A Cross-species Comparison of Facial Morphology and Movement in Humans and Chimpanzees Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS)
A Psychometric Evaluation of the Facial Action Coding System for Assessing Spontaneous Expression
Assessing the convergent validity between the automated emotion recognition software Noldus FaceReader 7 and Facial Action Coding System Scoring
Predicting Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Levels from Videos Using the Facial Action Coding System
Emote aloud during learning with AutoTutor: Applying the Facial Action Coding System to cognitive–affective states during learning
EquiFACS: The Equine Facial Action Coding System
The Facial Action Coding System for Characterization of Human Affective Response to Consumer Product-Based Stimuli: A Systematic Review
🆕 Influential since 2022
CalliFACS: The common marmoset Facial Action Coding System
Deception detection in videos using the facial action coding system
GorillaFACS: The Facial Action Coding System for the Gorilla spp.
What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS)
Compound Facial Emotion Recognition based on Facial Action Coding System and SHAP Values
📚 Books worth reading
What the face revealsPaul Ekman · 1997
Biometric RecognitionWei-Shi Zheng · 2012- 📕Facial action coding systemPaul Ekman · 1978
What the face reveals · 2005- 📕FACS (Facial Action Coding System) als Instrument zur Erfassung therapeutischer VeränderungenEva Bänninger-Huber · 1985
The System of Theatrical Improvisation · 2014
Encyclopedia of emotionGretchen Reevy · 2010
The new handbook of methods in nonverbal behavior researchRosenthal, Robert, Klaus R. Scherer · 2005
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
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- Paul Ekman Paul Ekman (February 15, 1934 – November 17, 2025) was an American psychologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who was a…
- Facial coding Facial coding is the process of measuring human emotions through facial expressions. Emotions can be detected by computer algorithms for automatic emotion…
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- Carl-Herman Hjortsjö Carl-Herman Hjortsjö (8 December 1914 – 3 July 1978), born Carl-Herman Hirschlaff, was a Swedish anatomist, physician, and physical anthropologist. His…
- Pathognomy Pathognomy is "a 'semiotik' of the transient features of someone's face or body, be it voluntary or involuntary". Examples of this can be laughter and…
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- Microexpression A microexpression is a facial expression with very short duration. It is the innate result of a voluntary and an involuntary emotional response occurring…