Aspies For Freedom

Visitors to a major science exhibition are to help teach computers how to read confusion, mirth and other expressions. It is hoped that this will lead to the development of ways to help people with autism recognise emotions.

The thousands of visitors to next week's Royal Society summer science exhibition are being invited to take part in research with "emotionally aware" computers designed to mind-read by analysing facial expressions.

The developers hope that one day smart adverts based on their technology will be able to tell when passers-by look glum and try to sell them something cheering, from an anti-depressant to a holiday.

They are also working with colleagues in America to develop a headset version of the system to help people who find it difficult to read others' facial expressions and emotions, as happens with autism and Asperger's syndrome. The headset would interpret other people's moods and communicate them to the wearer.

A prototype has been developed at the University of Cambridge and will be unveiled at the exhibition in London.

Peter Robinson, professor of computer technology at the university, said: "Imagine a computer that could pick the right emotional moment to try to sell you something, a future in which mobile telephones, cars and websites could read our minds and react to our moods."

The computer program takes data from a camera to locate and track 24 facial "feature points", such as the edge of the nose, the eyebrows and the corners of the mouth.

So far, 20 key facial movements, such as a nod or shake of the head, a raise of the eyebrow or pull on the corner of the mouth, have been linked to underlying emotions, using actors to indicate different facial expressions to the computer.

The team is refining the system with "real" people's expressions and hopes that the exhibition will generate valuable new data to improve the program's ability to read faces.

Prof Robinson said: "The system can cope with the variation in people's facial composition, for example if you have a round or thin face or if you wear glasses or have a beard.

"However, there are small variations in the way people express the same emotion. My colleagues working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are fine-tuning the system by testing it with real people's reactions to everyday life using cameras attached to neck-braces."

The technology is also being developed for use in cars to improve driver safety. The team is recording the faces of volunteers in driving conditions and monitoring facial movements to identify more complex expressions linked to confusion, boredom or tiredness.

"We are working with a major car company and it is possible that this technology could feature in cars within five years," Prof Robinson said.

• The exhibition, which is held at the Royal Society, is free and runs from July 3 to 6.
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor from telegraph.co.uk

Yuck!  My default expression is "grim" according to Vernu, even though I feel quite happy.  So I'd probably get more than my share of annoying NT ads, urging me to enjoy "sun sea and sand frolics" or something equally pointless.  
Alison

If they were REALLY smart adverts, they'd leave the glum-faced people ALONE!!!  :lol:   This reminds me of the kiosk that goes up every year in the shopping mall near my house.  The people who run it seem to be from another country though I can't place their accents, and they sell nail care or cuticle massages or something like that, and they solicit customers by ACCOSTING people & saying, "Excuse me miss, may I ask you a question? Do you have natural nails?"  At least one of these chumps has reacted to my brusque "No" with a sneer.  So rude!  Every time I approach their kiosk on my way in or out of the mall, I turn my head to indicate lack of interest, but it doesn't always work.  If they CAN cross my path, they do!  I can only turn my head so far away from them without running into a wall...pretty dense, they are.  Maybe their behavior is normal in their native country.  Or maybe they just need some lessons in reading social cues...such as, if the person is RACE-WALKING PAST YOU, lugging shopping bags and wearing a face that could stop a clock, LEAVE HER ALONE!!! :roll:

EDIT: And no, I don't REALLY think these people are aspie or otherwise lacking in the ability to read people...I think they just don't care.  I should have said they need lessons in MANNERS.  Oh well...they never stay at the mall for very long.  Obviously they're not making money. :grin:

(1) the headline is misleading as to how pro-cure or anti-autistic the article is going to be.

(2) this is a heck of a lot more interesting as a coping-tool than as an advertising tool.  ugh.  I don't want my computer knowing my moods... although if it could accurately tell me my moods when I don't know how to define them, that would be a little bit interesting.

(3) if the car could read my mind, that would be a little interesting, too... though it would probably bar me from behind the wheel for its own protection.....

(4) despite #2 above, I would not wear a thing to tell me people's emotions... With a watch, sometimes a swiss-army knife, a camera-cellphone and an MP3-player that I forget to use, I think that is enough gadgets to carry with me.

What would be really useful would be a tool to read emotion by brain patterns.  Pretty much infalliable, once neurotypes are all mapped and the thing's properly set to them.

Which is why we need a neurological revolution.