Thanks to a new project in human emotion analysis, you may not need a penny for someone's thoughts anymore. Even more interestingly, you may soon be able to not just read emotions on others, but use your own emotions to create art or play next-generation games.
ARGUS is touted as the "World's first contactless facial reader and hidden emotions scanner," by its designers. Launching on KickStarter.com in four days, the device may have a broad range of applications. For example, the developers describe ARGUS in the context of gaming: "Get inside a first-person-shooter as it creates action, dialog, and outcomes based on your innermost feelings."
The ARGUS contactless scanner reads faces by picking up on micro movements and micro oscillations-in other words, facial twitches-which are invisible to the naked eye. In this way it can detect and measure various human emotional and mental responses. These oscillations are created and changed by a person's emotional state, and are both periodic and non-periodic events associated with whatever activity the individual engages in.
After the scanner digitizes and amplifies the raw analog signals produced by micro-oscillations. Then the information is processed and subjected to spectral analysis using the ARGUS optimized biometric algorithms. The creators say that the process works even over Skype-and it can work in a handheld device as well as a traditional computer.
The developers envision many realms for applications of the technology. Obviously they present ARGUS for use in gaming. But they also promote the technology for use in threat detection and personal security. The ultimate bodyguard can anticipate the ill will of a would-be attacker before there is physical danger-and that's just what ARGUS is intended to do.
The team also describes the use of the technology in business; human resources professionals can assess candidates and avoid being fooled, while those on the marketing side of things can attain advanced understanding of client preferences. And of course there are healthcare implications for the technology, making both improved stress management and more accurate diagnoses possible. The developers even see ARGUS going to Mars, helping to assess the impact of the journey on the crew.
"ARGUS is the world's first contactless automated facial reader. The Argus bio-scanners deliver a feast of potential innovation to individuals, inventors and visionaries of all sorts. In bringing the invisible into the light, it is destined to enable many to work and play harder," the developers say.
