14 DAY TRIAL // Here’s something taken out of a Sci-Fi movie. San Diego-based company Emotient announced it would be catering a new app for Google Glass, dubbed Sentiment Analysis. At this stage the software is still a prototype, but the real deal might soon be made available to the real-life devices.
If you’re familiar with the TV show “Lie to Me” you might be aware that six fundamental emotions can be distinguished in all human beings: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust.
In the drama-show, doctor Cal Lightman is able to read and interpret these universal micro-expressions at the moment they arise on his subject's face, which ultimately leads to solving cases and mysteries.
However, in real life most of us are galaxies away from reaching the capabilities of doctor Lightman. Nevertheless, that could all change thanks to the new app developed by Emotient.
Albeit being a prototype, Sentiment Analysis is said to be capable of reading the emotional state and overall sentiment of a person present in your visual field and present a quick summary on the wearer’s visual field (via FastCompany).
As we mentioned above, this is an app destined for the Google Glass, but its application won’t be limited to it.
Emotient is said to have been building other products capable of reading and understanding human emotions by virtue of reading micro facial expressions.
If Google ends up adopting an emotion-reading app remains to be seen, but how would that make you “feel” when engaged with a person wearing the Glass, knowing your face is scanned for parameters of what’s going on inside of you?
With this in mind, privacy advocates have prompted Google to provide reassurance it will not be implementing facial recognition feats without the necessary privacy protections set up. Although we can’t speculate on their nature, at this point.
Privacy issues don't seem to scare a lot of people, as Emotient has managed to gather up to $6 / €4 million through bond sales to help develop the prototype for the Google Glass software.
Apart from the day-to-day application, like you being able to read the dark thoughts of your boyfriend/girlfriend, there’s another really serious application of the software in stores.
Retailers will be able to use technology to scan your moods, thus enabling them to offer you the product you might be the most likely to purchase given the state you’re in.
We can’t help feeling a little bizarre, imagining product advertising becoming so accurate, customers won't be able to abstain themselves from buying whatever their mood indicates they should be buying.
In theory, the app is said to be able to provide assistance to public relations / retail workers who are not good at picking up emotional cues. That sounds innocent enough, given the beneficiary is the customer, but that doesn't mean the invention can’t be speculated towards darker ends. What do you think?