Scientists are developing a face analysis program that can detect moods; application could be used to gauge consumer reactions to products and to even test concentration of those engaged in critical tasks
St Jerome, a Christian saint who lived around the fourth century, once said: “The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.”
Now, sixteen centuries later, German scientists are working on a new automatic system that can recognise a person’s mood in an instant, based on detailed facial analysis.
Imagine a raunchy advertisement for a new perfume, hanging in one of Mumbai’s premier malls. Thousands of people walk past it every day. Some stop and stare, others walk by, clearly amused. And then, there are those who seem offended when they look at the poster.
With the help of a small video camera, the system automatically localises the faces of everyone who walks past the advertisement. And nothing escapes its watchful eye: Does the passer-by look happy, surprised, sad or even offended?
This system for rapid facial analysis – being developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Germany – uses highly complex algorithms to immediately localise human faces in the image, differentiate between men and women, and analyse their expressions.
“The special feature of our facial analysis software is that it operates in real time,” says Dr Christian Kblbeck, project manager at the IIS. “What’s more, it is able to localise and analyse a large number of faces simultaneously.”
The most important facial characteristics used by the system are the contours of the face, the eyes, the eyebrows and the nose.
First of all, the system has to go through a training phase in which it is presented with huge quantities of data containing images of faces.
In normal operation, the computer compares 30,000 facial characteristics with the information that it has previously learned.
“On a standard PC, the calculations are carried out so quickly that mood changes can be tracked live,” explains Kblbeck.
However, users need not worry about an invasion of their privacy, as the software analyses the data on a purely statistical basis.
Also, the software package is not only of interest to advertising psychologists; there are numerous potential applications for the system.
It can be used, for example, to test the user-friendliness of computer software programs. The system monitors the facial expressions of the user in order to determine which aspects of the program arouse a particularly strong reaction.
Alternatively, it can assess the reactions of users of learning software, in order to establish the extent to which they are put under stress or challenged by the task they are performing. The system could also be used to check the levels of concentration of car drivers.
On the Net: A demonstration version of the face detection and analysis software package is available for download at: www.iis.fraunhofer.de/EN/bf/bv/kognitiv/biom/dd.jsp
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmp...§id=7&contentid=200707130311108901000e2c6
St Jerome, a Christian saint who lived around the fourth century, once said: “The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.”
Now, sixteen centuries later, German scientists are working on a new automatic system that can recognise a person’s mood in an instant, based on detailed facial analysis.
Imagine a raunchy advertisement for a new perfume, hanging in one of Mumbai’s premier malls. Thousands of people walk past it every day. Some stop and stare, others walk by, clearly amused. And then, there are those who seem offended when they look at the poster.
With the help of a small video camera, the system automatically localises the faces of everyone who walks past the advertisement. And nothing escapes its watchful eye: Does the passer-by look happy, surprised, sad or even offended?
This system for rapid facial analysis – being developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Germany – uses highly complex algorithms to immediately localise human faces in the image, differentiate between men and women, and analyse their expressions.
“The special feature of our facial analysis software is that it operates in real time,” says Dr Christian Kblbeck, project manager at the IIS. “What’s more, it is able to localise and analyse a large number of faces simultaneously.”
The most important facial characteristics used by the system are the contours of the face, the eyes, the eyebrows and the nose.
First of all, the system has to go through a training phase in which it is presented with huge quantities of data containing images of faces.
In normal operation, the computer compares 30,000 facial characteristics with the information that it has previously learned.
“On a standard PC, the calculations are carried out so quickly that mood changes can be tracked live,” explains Kblbeck.
However, users need not worry about an invasion of their privacy, as the software analyses the data on a purely statistical basis.
Also, the software package is not only of interest to advertising psychologists; there are numerous potential applications for the system.
It can be used, for example, to test the user-friendliness of computer software programs. The system monitors the facial expressions of the user in order to determine which aspects of the program arouse a particularly strong reaction.
Alternatively, it can assess the reactions of users of learning software, in order to establish the extent to which they are put under stress or challenged by the task they are performing. The system could also be used to check the levels of concentration of car drivers.
On the Net: A demonstration version of the face detection and analysis software package is available for download at: www.iis.fraunhofer.de/EN/bf/bv/kognitiv/biom/dd.jsp
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmp...§id=7&contentid=200707130311108901000e2c6