Evaluation of emotional response to non-photorealistic images

Abstract

Non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) algorithms are used to produce stylized images, and have been evaluated on the aesthetic qualities of the resulting images. NPR-produced images have been used for aesthetic and practical reasons in media intended to produce an emotional reaction in a consumer (e.g., computer games, films, advertisements, and websites); however, it is not understood how the use of these algorithms affects the emotion portrayed in an image. We conducted a study of subjective emotional response to five common NPR approaches, two blurring techniques, and the original image with 42 participants, and found that the NPR algorithms dampened participants' emotional responses in terms of arousal (activation) and valence (pleasure).