According to a new study, the way you move your mouse can say a lot about your mood. Most people can tell if you're angry based on the way you act. Professor Jeffrey Jenkins can tell if you're angry by the way a computer mouse moves.
The BYU information systems specialist says that people who experience anger (and other negative emotions – frustration, confusion and sadness) become less precise in their mouse movements and move the cursor at different speeds.
Thanks to advances in modern technology, Jenkins and his colleagues can now collect and process enough data from computer to measure these deviations and characterize your emotional state.
Using this technology, websites will no longer be simple, Jenkins said, adding that "websites can go beyond simply presenting information, from now on they will be able to feel you. They will be able to understand not only what you provide them, but also what you feel."
According to his research, when users are upset or confused, the mouse no longer follows a straight or slightly curved path. Instead, the movements become erratic and sudden. In addition, someone who displays negative emotions moves a computer.
Jenkins believes that the biggest application of his research (and the related technology that measures mouse movements) is that web developers will be able to adjust or fix some parts of websites that externalize the user's negative emotions.
In other words, now people have the online ticket to understand what drives you crazy on their websites.
Jenkins also said that “the concept of cursor tracking can be applied to mobile devices, where strong taps and swipes replace mouse movement.” Although he is still in the early stages of his research on mobile devices, he is encouraged by the vast amounts of data that phones and tablets provide.
You can see his research here.
