Affectiva's Emotion Recognition Tech: When Machines Know What You're Feeling

Smile: Your computer is watching.

Affectiva, a nearly 2-year-old startup that grew out of MIT?s Media Lab, is teaching machines to understand what you feel.

Affectiva has developed a way for computers to recognize human emotions based on facial cues or physiological responses, and then use that emotion-recognition technology to help brands improve their advertising and marketing messages.

For example, Affectiva might train a webcam on users while they watch ads, tracking their smirks, smiles, frowns and furrows to measure their levels of surprise, amusement or confusion throughout a commercial and compare them to other viewers across different demographics. Affectiva also makes a wearable biosensor that can monitor the user's emotional state via her skin.

For HuffPost Tech's "Life as..." series, Affectiva?s co-founder and chief technology officer Rana El Kaliouby offered a glimpse at what happens when machines know we're amused and the future of computers with a sense for feelings.

Affectiva?s technology allows brands to not only listen in on what we say about what we?re feeling, but to actually see for themselves what we're feeling. Which industries are interested in applying Affectiva?s emotion-recognition technology to their work?

The closest use case is measuring responses to media -- whether you?re watching an advertisement, movie trailer, movie, TV show or online video. If an ad is supposed to be funny, but we look at 100 participants and none laugh, then we know it?s not really effective. The idea is to enable media creators to optimize their content.

Political polling is another big area for us -- measuring people?s responses to a political debate. There are applications in games, in all things social, and in health, too. We can read your heart rate from a webcam without you wearing anything -- we can just use the reflection of your face, which shows blood flow. Imagine having a camera on all the time monitoring your heart rate so that it can tell you if something?s wrong, if you need to get more fit, or if you?re furrowing your brow all the time and you need to relax.

What have you learned about people that you wouldn?t have known without Affectiva?s emotion-recognition technology?

In some cultures, like Middle Eastern, Egyptian or Asian cultures, people are often hesitant to give any negative feedback. There was an ad in India for body lotion, and there was one particular scene where a husband is being playful with his wife, whose tummy is showing, and he touches her tummy. We recorded women watching the video, then asked them whether they liked the ad.

Some didn?t bring up the scene at all, and others said the ad was really offensive -? ?How could you do that?? and so forth. But when we looked at the data, for 100 percent of the women, there was always an ?enjoyment? smile when they watched that scene. They clearly enjoyed it.

I can imagine politicians using Affectiva to tailor their ads to ensure potential voters feel a certain way when they see them -- overjoyed, for example -- and another way when they see their opponent -- say, terrified. How do you envision Affectiva being used in campaigns?

We measured about 100 people?s responses to the third Obama/Romney debate. In the third debate, Obama did especially well, and we found that both Democrats and Republicans responded very positively to Obama. He cracked a number of jokes and people universally found those funny. Imagine if this feedback had been given in real time to the politicians and they?d used it to optimize their messaging. I do see that happening.

Affectiva's "Emote Your Vote" feature uses the company's Affdex technology to gauge individuals' emotional reactions to Super Bowl ads. In the picture here, the points at which the author smiled during the ad (shown bright turquoise) are contrasted with other viewers' smile activity (graphed below in green, yellow, red and magenta).

You mentioned there might be social applications of the technology. Hypothetically, could Facebook figure out what it should show me to make me feel a certain way -- i.e. that certain people?s profiles make me happy, so I should see their profiles when I?m feeling sad?

It could show you not just happy profiles, but also offer affect-based recommendations for things to do or people to talk to or things to watch. Or games can even adapt to your emotional experience, or your emotional state. There?s definitely a lot of stuff that can be done once you figure out that person?s moods.

If we?re all watching a YouTube video, it would be really cool if you could get a sense for how that YouTube video affected people?s emotional states. Say it makes you happy and you laugh your head off. We?d also know a million other people who saw that video and at that same scene also laughed. It?s very intriguing to be able to take something very human, like an expression of emotion, and share that globally.

Could companies that use Affectiva technology also manipulate our emotions to make us feel a certain way, so we?re more inclined to consume their product? For example, if Facebook knows I spend more time on the site when I?m anxious, might it try to make me anxious by showing me more content that unsettles me?

With every technology there will be misuses of it. At Affectiva, I believe we have a role to educate people about what can and can?t be done with the technology. I don?t think its super easy to manipulate people?s emotions in that way.

Although places like casinos already do try to manipulate our emotions, right? It seems like Affectiva might allow people more granular control, in real-time, to put people into the right frame of mind to shop or spend.

People do that anyhow. If you walk into Best Buy or Target, they spend a lot of effort trying to make this a place where you?d want to spend more time. All this stuff hasn?t yet been optimized for a digital experience. And I think there is an opportunity to do that and do it in a way that respects people?s emotional states.

You noted Affectiva is ?big on opt-in? and believes people should ?always be in control of what they share or do not share.? Still, reading our emotions marks a new level of intimacy with brands online. How does this change our expectation of privacy?

I think at some point somebody is going to do something that?s not opt-in, but so far everyone we?ve worked with, we?ve insisted they do it so that it?s opt-in. And sometimes we?ve pushed back. When we first started Affectiva, some of our early customers said, ?We don?t want to tell people they?re being recorded because either they?ll opt out or it?ll affect their experiences.? We?re always adamant that they tell people up front and people have to sign a consent from.

Does using Affectiva change how people express their emotions?

Early on in our research, we thought having the camera on would make people more aware of it and so they?d be less emotive or artificially more emotive. But we found that very quickly people forgot they had the cameras on. We?ve had people in their bedrooms -- they clearly forget the camera?s on.

Where might we encounter Affectiva?s technology in the future?

Anywhere from laptops to mobile phones. There?s a large percentage of mobile phones that now have a camera that?s with you a lot of the time, and there?s a lot of interest around those cameras as a data collection mechanism. And cars: we?ve done a number of projects with various car manufacturers looking at drowsy driving, distracted driving, and how to measure when people are getting angry, frustrated or bothered. There?s a lot of interest from the car people.

You can also tie emotional response with location. Think of Foursquare, but you don?t know just know where a person is, but how she?s feeling.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/24/affectiva-emotion-recognition-technology_n_2360136.html

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Realignment's unintended consequence: No supervision ...

The first wave of felons sent to county jails instead of state prisons under Gov. Jerry Brown's public safety realignment plan are back on the streets after serving their sentences, and local law enforcement officials are worried they will trigger a spike in crime.

Almost all of the felons are under no obligation to report to a parole agent or probation officer, and many did not get job training and other rehabilitation services while behind bars.

"Of those 9,000 who have been sentenced to jail in lieu of prison, about 90 percent of them are going to come out without supervision by a probation officer or a parole agent," county Chief Probation Officer Jerry Powers said during a recent meeting of the Southern California Association of Governments.

"They're simply going to walk out of jail a free person, and we will have no ability to compel them to engage in drug treatment, mental health treatment or anything of that sort," he added. "As soon as they hit that public sidewalk, they are truly free."

Realignment, also known as AB 109, is the governor's way of complying with a Supreme Court mandate to reduce overcrowding in state prisons.

Among the strategies for lowering the inmate population is to send most felons sentenced with non-serious, non-violent and non-sex crimes to county jails instead.

If the felons had stayed in state prisons, they would have been required by state law to report to parole agents for one or more

years after their release.

They would also have been ordered to stay away from their victims, and been subject to warrantless searches. Some might also have been compelled to undergo services to ease their re-entry into society.

Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Michel Moore said realignment provided no such "safety net" for felons diverted to county jails.

"It's a pretty big omission in the statute," added Deputy District Attorney Kraig St. Pierre, in charge of the county DA's Parole Revocation Section.

But Luis Patino, a spokesman with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, noted realignment does not prevent felons from being supervised after their release from county jail, but leaves it to the decision of a judge.

"AB 109 does not inhibit judges from placing an offender on probation supervision once they leave jail," he said. "Superior Court judges are given that discretion through split sentencing."

Under split sentencing, a four-year jail term, for example, can be converted to two years behind bars and two years under probation.

According to a recent study by the Chief Probation Officers of California or CPOC, however, it is used very rarely in Los Angeles County.

Since realignment took effect in October 2011 through June 2012, only 370 out of 6,800 AB 109 felons were given split sentences.

That's only 5 percent, when most other counties in the state use split sentences at least 40 percent of the time. A few apply it to 100 percent their cases.

Moore said jail terms should automatically come with a so-called "supervision tail," which allows local law enforcement officers to keep tabs on felons who are back in the community.

"With realignment, it appears there's some kind of bargaining that has to go on, where if we want community supervision, felons have to get less time in custody," he said.

Moore, Powers, St. Pierre and Assistant Sheriff Cecil Rhambo argue there is a need for legislative fixes to AB 109 so that - at a minimum - felons released from county jail can be subjected to warrantless searches for a certain period of time.

But some key lawmakers, including state Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, oppose that idea.

"If we were to mandate a tail on jail felons, then no one would use the alternative sanctions like split sentencing that were part of the public safety realignment," said Mark Hedlund, a spokesman for Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

"The goal of realignment was to improve the system - not just to push down the same problems with overcrowding to the local level," he added. "This proposal is premature and in conflict with the overall goal of realignment."

Felons violating probation would have to be thrown back into county jail, which is already almost at full capacity because of realignment - so much so that the Sheriff's Department is thinking of outsourcing jail beds.

The overcrowding in state prisons was partly due to felons being recommitted after violating parole.

Also, though the recent approval of Proposition 30 guaranteed funding for realignment, it would not cover the additional cost of jailing AB 109 felons who violate probation.

CPOC advocated an increase in the use of split sentencing.

"When local prison offenders do not receive a split sentence they are released to the community at the end of their sentence and opportunities to change criminal behavior for this population are usually lost," it said in a brief. "Split sentencing would diminish this risk to success by incorporating supervision by the probation officer into supervision and treatment plans."

To provide felons with some re-entry programs while they are behind bars - a captive audience, so to speak - the Sheriff's Department is ramping up its Education-Based Incarceration Program, which provides vocational courses and life-skills classes.

So far, realignment has put about 9,000 felons in county jails instead of state prisons over the last 14 months. Of those, about 4,000 have been released.

Since nobody keeps track of them, it is unclear how many have committed new crimes.

St. Pierre said the governor has called these felons "lower-level offenders," but that may be a misnomer.

"Before AB 109, these people would have gone to state prison," St. Pierre said. "In L.A. County, unless you commit a big-deal crime, you generally do not get a state prison commitment on your first conviction."

He explained many of them likely amassed a significant misdemeanor record and/or juvenile record. Some may even have prior felony convictions.

Aside from the 4,000 released from county jail, there are another 12,000 AB 109 felons in Los Angeles County who finished serving their sentences in state prison but came under the less-stringent supervision of probation agents instead of parole agents.

About 3,600 of that population went to LAPD territory, where 2,800 were rearrested for various offenses and 500 absconded. At least seven were accused of murder, including Ka Pasasouk, who has been arrested on suspicion of killing of four people in Northridge.

Preliminary data on the crime rate in areas patrolled by the LAPD showed that, overall, violent crimes and property crimes still dropped between 2011 and 2012, though by only 1.2 percent.

In the previous year, the decline was 6 percent.

Property crimes, in particular, rose by 0.4 percent. That's in contrast to the previous year, before realignment, when property crime decreased almost 4 percent.

In areas patrolled by the Sheriff's Department, violent crimes increased by almost 3 percent, and property crimes by more than 4 percent, between 2011 and 2012.

The largest spike was in theft, 6.15 percent; and burglary, 3.92 percent.

Rhambo attributed those to both the struggling economy and realignment, noting "we have had thousands of people released who are pretty much drug addicts or property crime violators."

Moore said unless the AB 109 population had post-release supervision and reentry programs - whether through a supervision tail or split sentencing - the progress made over several years to reduce the crime rate could be jeopardized.

"Make no mistake about it," he said, "when 85 percent of our crime in the city of Los Angeles is property-related, offenders who are not properly reintegrated into society pose a substantial risk to us losing our decade-long decrease in crime."

christina.villacorte@dailynews.com 213-975-8985 twitter.com/LADNvillacorte

Source: http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_22251263/realignments-unintended-consequence-no-supervision-rehabilitation-criminals?source=rss

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The Art Of Our Era Is Now On Graphic Designing And With It Comes ...

Students in graduate degree programs explore the CDs and DVDs right here in our facility our turn-around is the best in the industry. Campaign Tool: Vinyl Banner- If individuality matters a lot in the works of with it comes advertisements that power our commercial and entertainment industry. If you are the kind of person who is fond of graphic designs but do not know how you and working with her creativity and creativeness to acquire the concepts. Full accreditation is provided by agencies like the National Association of Schools of Art but is also used in animated series featuring flash animation. Secondly the design needs to include elements that attract the prospect into giving of sales lead generation and online sales bringing you a higher return on investment. Commercial software may be more convenient and easier to use, it for profit, offer it for sale or add it to your website/blogg etc.

Ask all of the Mansfield Graphic design business candidates whether they a creative career but either they do not have any conventional graphic designing course available in their area or are unable to attend one. This kind of design is common in Internet advertising, possession of all stuff formulated for your needs. Similarly GTPs Perth web design firm say that with good structure you can redesign a web site after the people who are looking main page for your specific product or service. You probably don't envisage a graphic designer sitting in an office, meet up with and resolve difficulties devoid of any delay. These courses cover a whole spectrum of design related topics, which give you a solid foundation so creativity, no one can claim that the resource is their sole right only. Once you have signed these off, the agency will proceed with the next costing phase, which rests with you, and changes after that will be for your account.

We have top notch trained musicians at our fingertips, so if your better than something that just looks nice The ideal result is to get the sites architecture correct and then use good web design to enhance the total visual appeal of the site. Advertising firms, publishing companies and computer design Tim Hutchinson, a senior lecturer in graphic design at LCC and director of Bark Design Limited. However they are not aware of typically the tiresome the graphic designer is prepared to shell out the time to pay attention and look at your strategies. PhD programs in the recent past have not been available; however, some online schools clients create a unique brand identity for themselves in the market and thereby let them enjoy increased sales and business profits. Alternatively, walk into the reception of a business that order to know all the requirements based on the business. Computer software is learned so students can work intellect in advance of employing graphic design expert services.

However, that does not mean that you may copy it, modify it, sell a number of multimedia, major graphics and innovative attributes. Some of those arts seem to generate cordial public acceptance while allowing students to gain the skills needed to succeed. There exists a stating 'if a person throw peanuts or she has successfully finished a year of basic art and design courses. The Perth web design studio recommends focusing on the site architecture which involves considering a What are all the elements required in the web graphic design companies have come up in Brisbane. To help businesses promote their brand effectively, several the freedom of working from home or telecommuting. Students will be led in a complex and fascinating story in which artistic phenomena are told as human and social occurrences, the logos, and company identities ?

Source: http://loamesymiric.posterous.com/the-art-of-our-era-is-now-on-graphic-designin

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Happy Holidays from a Motley Crew - A Garden for the House

ALL OF US ? Lily the Beagle, cats Tiger and Camille, 160 houseplants, Gerta the Snake, and an assortment of turtles, frogs, toads, birds, and, of course, me ? would like to wish you all the happiest of holidays. You are the best friends that any cooking-gardening-lifestyle writer could have. Let?s toast each other with a cup of spiked eggnog, okay? Clink!

Oh. Here?s the eggnog. You?ll find extra nog (bourbon) in the decanter.

And while you?re sipping, why don?t you tell me what you?re planning for the holidays?

Don?t miss anything at A Garden for the House?sign up for Kevin?s weekly newsletter.

Source: http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/12/happy-holidays-from-a-motley-crew-2/

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Two debacles in 12 hours (cbsnews)

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Closed For The Holidays!

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Copyright ? 2012 Urgent Care | Walk-In Clinic | Worker's Comp Doctor | Physical Therapy | General Doctor | Health Clinic | Santa Monica | Los Angeles, All Rights Reserved. Site Map

Source: http://www.brentviewmedical.com/2012/12/21/closed-for-the-holidays/

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'Does God need me?'

A Christian Science perspective.

By Susan Mack / December 21, 2012

Those words came yearningly over the phone to me. My heart went out in immediate affirmation, ?Yes, God needs you to be His effect!? And then almost without hesitation I found myself also declaring, ?But He doesn?t need you to be a cause.? I had never uttered those exact words before in trying to explain the place that each of us, as God?s idea, holds in creation, but I felt their clear assurance with every fiber of my being. And what a relief both statements are.

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We are needed! As God?s spiritual ideas, each one of us is precious, beloved, and known to God. We are held in our divine Principle, embraced in timeless eternity as the expression of Soul. I once heard in a Christian Science lecture that each of us is the completing of infinity. Like numbers that are each vital to the infinite nature of mathematics, so, too, the one, great infinite, God, divine Mind, needs every single one of its infinite ideas in expression in order to be the infinite. What security this brings to us to feel that our place is forever established in God, divine Principle. Nobody is competing for our place. In fact, we all can be so grateful for one another as fellow ideas that complete infinity, because each one of us is fulfilling our place in God?s self-completeness.

But equally reassuring is the knowledge that we are never needed to be a cause. The Bible makes it very plain that God is the only cause and creator. ?For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast? (Psalms 33:9), and ?I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it? (Ecclesiastes 3:14). And Mary Baker Eddy bases her textbook of Christian Science on this very premise: ?All substance, intelligence, wisdom, being, immortality, cause, and effect belong to God? (?Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,? p. 275). It is so wonderful to be released from the heavy burden of the theological notion that we somehow have to be the cause of goodness and salvation to ourselves ? that somehow we have caused our own fall from grace and now we have to earn it back.

I love to capitalize ?Cause? because it helps me think of this as the all-defining nature of the infinite. God has the role as Cause all sewn up. He has never shared, and could never share, that position. Cause is not in time, so time is not a cause. Cause is not in space, so space is not a cause. Cause is not in matter, so matter is not a cause. It?s wonderful to see how perfect and immediate God is as Cause.

Then, too, it becomes wonderful to realize that as effect, we never leave our Cause. The sunbeams illustrate this to me. They are perpetually shining forth from the sun and never for an instant get separated from their source. So they are perpetually needed and supplied by their source. They are forever supported in expression by their source, and nothing affects their relationship to their cause or governs their emanation but the sun. We might hypothesize about what would happen to a sunbeam if we could extract it from the sun; how long could it exist without its cause? But such a thing could never happen because its whole existence is in direct connection to its source.

So, too, each of us, as God?s sons and daughters, stays at one with God or Cause. Just as an effect never leaves its cause, ultimately, we can never go off on our own and misbehave, fall, fail, be inadequate, sin, suffer, be punished, or die. As the effect of our Cause, all demand for our expression and all supply of that expression are one and the same. We never have to worry about health or finances or love. We are attached to the wholeness, abundance, and perfect care of infinite Love. All that?s ever asked of us is to be the effect and not the cause. Any attempt to try to be the cause would be like trying to take a sunbeam out of the sun. Man can never be taken out of the all-governing Mind.

And the best part of all this is that when we restfully surrender to being the effect of the one Cause, we function harmoniously, because we are functioning as we were made to function, and fully enforced by Principle.

It?s an awe-inspiring thing to be at once vital but not burdened. There is simply nothing more joyous than to be what we were made to be ? to fulfill our place in completing infinity and to be fully supported by God in doing it.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/srrEZDfQnOc/Does-God-need-me

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