Meta Expressions
A platform merging motion capture with motion synthesis, letting technical and non-technical users create expressive, believable animated characters.
Maynooth University
Lead: Cathy Ennis
Digital Education & Online Communication
Dr. Cathy Ennis is an Assistant Professor at Maynooth University, specialising in the simulation and evaluation of digital humans. She has extensive experience in virtual character research, focusing on creating expressive, engaging characters for crowd simulation, educational and entertainment games, virtual assistants, and metaverse avatars. Before joining Maynooth, Dr. Ennis spent ten years as a Lecturer at Technological University Dublin and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Utrecht University and Trinity College Dublin. Her research emphasises practical applications, often providing developers with guidelines for virtual character design. Her work is of relevance to both research and industry, and she has published research papers with companies such as Disney Research and Eisko. Combining expertise in animation, emotion, and personality, Dr. Ennis develops accessible, perceptually guided methods that bridge advanced research with user-friendly tools for lifelike character creation.
Last updated: 5 December 2025
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