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 Research 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.

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 standardizes 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 by the performers, at 3 intensity levels: low, middle, and high.

There are several features unique to DIEM-A. It 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, it responds to an urgent demand from research and industry by providing an emotion-rich database from an under-represented population. Ultimately, DIEM-A will enable designers and researchers to advance in various fields, including affective computing, culturally sensitive design, social psychology, neuroscience, and computer animation.

DIEM-A makes 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.