Traditionally, human facial expressions have been studied using either 2D static images or 2D video sequences. The 2D-based analysis is incapable of handing large pose variations. Although 3D modeling techniques have been extensively used for 3D face recognition and 3D face animation, barely any research on 3D facial expression recognition using 3D range data has been reported. A primary factor for preventing such research is the lack of a publicly available 3D facial expression database. In this paper, we present a newly developed 3D facial expression database, which includes both prototypical 3D facial expression shapes and 2D facial textures of 2,500 models from 100 subjects. This is the first attempt at making a 3D facial expression database available for the research community, with the ultimate goal of fostering the research on affective computing and increasing the general understanding of facial behavior and the fine 3D structure inherent in human facial expressions. The new database can be a valuable resource for algorithm assessment, comparison and evaluation.