Affective Interfaces’ Webcam Software Reads Emotions

You don’t know me, webcam! You think you can just see my face and read my emotions!? Yea, that is gonna be the fight I have with my webcam if Affective Interfaces ever releases its emotion sensing software.

Demoed today at TechCrunch 50, the start up showed software that works with webcams to detect how you feel deep inside or at least how you show it on your face. It can detect smiles, frowns and, I assume, tears.

How are they going to use this? It looks like they have handed it right over to The Man himself. It will be used by ad companies to test responses to ad content. The software can gather data and then create reports on reactions to whatever individuals were looking at. Yes, the ASPCA ad with Sarah McLachlan makes me freakin cry. Do you feel better now Affective Interfaces!?

Beyond ads, it could be used as a “social tool” or to detect when drivers get sleepy behind the wheel. Am I the only one here that sees the dirty in all this? [Techcrunch via Venture Beat]