Technologies that until recently were first-rate material for impressive science fiction films have already begun to be implemented by small companies around the world and are preparing to amaze us in the very near future.
One of them is the emotion recognition software, which is obtained by reading the small grimaces and expressions of the user's face, and which, from mid-January 2014, will be available for application creators who will use it to understand whether the user exposed to an advertisement or other content is enjoying it or not. The company that develops it is called Affectiva.
The Massachusetts-based startup has raised more than $20 million from investors to further develop its products, which specialize in developing emotion recognition algorithms by reading facial expressions. Its clients include Coca Cola, Mars, and Unilever, who have used the software to test audience reactions to advertisements and promotional messages.
The software in question emerged after collecting and categorizing over 1.5 million different photos of users' faces that were recorded, with their consent, by the company's Webcams.
The first concern that arises, of course, according to the NYT article, is the violation of user privacy, but Affectiva's director, Dr. Rana el-Kaliouby, is reassuring since the software does not have the ability to record recognition snapshots, while always asking for the user's consent. Click on the link for a short demo of Affdex, as the software is called.
Source: www.lifo.gr
Source: seleo.gr
