A computer scientist collaborates with a stage director to analyze and machine-decode non-verbal communication. Shrikanth Narayanan of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Sharon Carnicke of the USC School of Theatre have captured interactions in which actors express emotion in gesture, intonation, and movement. Narayanan says the results will make human behavior more understanding to computers, allowing more sophisticated human-machine interaction. Carnicke says performance capture is emerging as a basic tool for actors.