A system recently developed by researchers at Concordia university which might be able to determine mood via a person's facial expressions.An ITBusiness article states, “The system analyzes a facial expression by first measuring the distance between the eyes. Based on that, it is able to map out other regions of the face and set a template. Then, it can process different markers that give away a person's mood. By focusing on specific groups of muscles near the eyes, nose and mouth, the system determines mood without requiring a full facial profile. That means less data is needed to determine a profile than other types of facial recognition.”
Currently, the implications for Airport security are being looked into but perhaps this system could also have applications in personal digital media? Could a biometric identification system be built into our existing interaction with digital media?—In this way our laptops, televisions, iPods could conceivably know what mood we're in.
(via http://inhardfocus.com/inhardfocus/2008/12/9/why-so-serious.html)
Maybe some kind of system like this could help users concentrate/take breaks at appropriate times. The obvious application seems to be advertising but maybe it could be used more responsibly to make sure people aren't overworked/depressed at work.
ReplyDeleteMaybe there's some application for this in emailing/instant messaging and other forms of digital communication. Could somehow replace emoticons—transmitting the mood of the users, replacing the body language that is lost when not communicating in person. Technology is changing the way people communicate—removing non-verbal communication. Maybe this kind of technology could counteract this process?
ReplyDeleteI've expanded on these points in this post:
ReplyDeletehttp://digitalpersonalisation.blogspot.com/2011/02/body-languagenon-verbal-cues-in-digital.html