Mona Lisa: Emotion Recognition Software

How did Mona Lisa feel? According to software, 83% happy and 9% disgusted.

What will this software be used for, anyway? Mapping a person's attitude at work? Objectively judging someone's emotional experience in a store? Decoding a terrorists face when boarding a plane? (A leer of contempt is an emotional tipoff for bombers, I read somewhere. It also indicates over 97% of the time a marriage's demise.)

Hmmm, imagine a word association test as customer service surveys:

1. Think of Dr. Clouthier's patient care. Snap!
2. Think of Dr. Clouthier's reception area. Snap!
3. Imagine the amount of waiting time before treatment. Snap!
4. Imagine how long you spend with the doctor. Snap!
5. Think about your typical visit fee. Snap!
6. Think about your interaction with the assistant. Snap!

Get the gist? No more sifting through the vagaries of people trying to spare your feelings. Just cold hard data:

• 90% of your sample, Dr. Clouthier, express happiness as their 76% dominant emotion when it comes to patient care
• 10% of your sample, express anger as the 95% dominant emotion

What do you think about that? Would people be willing to participate if the study was blinded? Would the recipient of the feedback value it?

Interesting.