Fidgeting, crossing one's arms, a tilting of the head and raising of the eyebrows, or having one's head in one's hands. All of these body movements convey a certain emotion that is instantaneously recognizable, providing a window into a person's state of mind, sometimes better than words themselves.

But not all movements are understood universally. Cultural context matters. A raised shoulder could communicate a completely different emotion in Japan than in Germany.

In order to better reflect this, researchers from the 雷速体育_中国足彩网￥在线直播 Institute of Electrical Communication at Tohoku University have created a new database that focuses on emotional body movement specific to Asia. Dubbed the DIEM-A, Intercultural E-Motion Database of Asian Performers, this new database is the world's first and most comprehensive Asian-focused emotional body movement database.

The database is available for download, free of charge, from here.

DIEM-A draws on more than 10,000 motion capture entries, recorded with 54 performers from Japan and 43 from Taiwan. Performers brought their own scenarios to act out both in their native languages, with English translation being provided by the researchers. This differs from other available databases, where standardized scripts are often created by the researchers.

Performers' reactions were recorded using high-speed motion capture technology and featured recordings of 12 emotions - joy, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, disgust, contempt, gratitude, guilt, jealousy, shame, pride, and a neutral state. Each emotional category comprises the performers at 3 intensity levels: low, middle, and high.

Tohoku University Assistant Professor Miao Cheng highlights several features unique to DIEM-A. "Our database features a large sample size of 97 performers, with performers hailing from different age ranges and backgrounds. Professionals included actors, magicians, puppet show artists, comedians, clowns, and musicians, with ages ranging from 18 to 69 years and a nearly balanced gender ratio of 50 females and 47 males. Lastly, DIEM-A employs a novel emotion elicitation method, in which performers create personalized scenarios for each emotion, rather than following standardized scripts typically used in other databases."

Meanwhile, the leader of the research team and the director of the Interdisciplinary ICT 雷速体育_中国足彩网￥在线直播 Center for Cyber and Real Spaces, Professor Yoshifumi Kitamura, remarked, "Our database responds to an urgent demand from research and industry by providing an emotion-rich database from an under-represented population."

DIEM-A will make its debut on October 8, 2025, at the 13th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII) in Canberra, Australia. It is a collaborative project with National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan.

"Ultimately, DIEM will enable designers and researchers to advance in various fields, including affective computing, culturally sensitive design, social psychology, neuroscience, and computer animation," said Chia-huei Tseng, an Associate Professor at Tohoku University.

The research team received vital support from a local musical company based in Sendai. SCS musical company helped recruit and support performers throughout their work in the study.

"Without the professional help provided by Mr. Jun Hirose and Mr. Kazumasa Fujita from SCS musical company, it would have been very difficult to properly bridge art and science in this study," added Tseng.

Publication Details:

Title: Asian Emotional Body Movement Database: Diverse Intercultural E-Motion Database of Asian Performers (DIEM-A)
Authors: Cheng, Miao, Chia-huei Tseng, Ken Fujiwara, Victor Schneider, and Yoshifumi Kitamura
Journal: Conference Proceedings of 2025 13th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII) (to be published in IEEE Explore)

Press release in Japanese