Local company's A.I. promises to sense your emotions, prevent crashes

Imagine a car that could tell if you were tired or distracted, before it's too late.

Boston-based Affectiva has developed technology that uses artificial intelligence to interpret your emotions.  The company is in talks with automotive manufacturers, to hopefully have the technology in cars in the next 2-3 years.

The company's technology, monitors your face and tracks changes from yawns to eye movements and alerts you when you need to focus.

“That kind of interaction between humans and technology is what we think is going to be next in our vehicles,” Affectiva’s Chief Marketing Officer Gabi Zijderveld told Boston 25 News.

Two female entrepreneurs developed the concept after working at the M.I.T. Media Lab, and chose to stay in Boston to be at the heart of developing technology.

HUMANIZING TECHNOLOGY

The technology offers suggestions based on the feedback.  If you’re distracted, it reminds you to look at the road.  If you show signs of fatigue, it suggests stopping at a local coffee shop, playing some upbeat music, or turning up the air-conditioning.

The developers say the goal is to "humanize technology”, and take that interaction to the next level, and provide suggestions the next time you’re cut off in traffic, for example.

“I can see you're getting really frustrated, a bit stressed out.  How about we take the next exit, and there's your favorite coffee place five minutes away then you can take a break and stretch your legs,” Zijderveld explained.

Affectiva captured massive amounts of data to make sure it can tell the difference between a smile and smirk.  Zijderveld says to date, the company has analyzed 7 million faces in 87 countries.

PRIVACY CONCERNS?

Cameras recording your every move raise privacy concerns for many.

Zijderveld says the company requires users opt-in and consent to any recordings, and that consent is part of any licensing agreement signed with a third party. 
The company has turned down business, including government surveillance and security situations, if consent doesn't exist.  And, she adds, the data collected is stored locally, not in a cloud.

“In the future being able to understand all that, and bring that data together, and intervene in an appropriate and relevant manner is absolutely going to make our roads safer,” said Zijderveld.

APPLICATIONS OUTSIDE OF CARS

Eventually the data may even be used in ride-sharing situations, or self-driving cars to customize a passengers environment based on their mood.

Affectiva's technology is being used outside of cars as well.  According to the company, a quarter of the Global Fortune 500 companies use it to gauge reactions to advertising.

In the future the developers hope it will be used in medical fields to detect early signs of Parkinson’s, help patients with autism recognize emotions, possibly help prevent suicides and even to help surgeons with facial reconstruction.

Cox Media Group