Computers That Know When You're Angry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Source: arstechnica.com
1/19/2006 12:29:53 PM, by Nate Anderson




Let's see a show of hands: how many of you have ever kicked, punched, shaken, thrown, or cursed your computer? How many have wanted to? Interesting. You can put your hands down now.

Using computers can be frustrating; there is just no feeling that can compare with a blue screen of death at one in the morning while you were working on that (unsaved) presentation. Computers are incredible devices for receiving and interpreting certain types of human sounds and gestures, but until now they have proved as insensitive as a husband watching a playoff game to the emotions of those they know best.

Enter the researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany (the same folks who brought us the MP3 compression format). Scientists at their facility in Rostock have been working on ways to interpret and react to a computer user's emotions, especially the aggression and frustration that build up in users who know exactly what they want to accomplish but cannot get their computers to do the job. The system has two components: a camera and a glove. The camera watches a PC's user for outward signs of emotion, such as frowning or certain postures. But many indicators for motion are internal and invisible to the camera's eye, which is where the glove comes in. Christian Peter, one of the project's researchers, has developed a glove fitted with sensors that record a person's heartbeat, blood pressure, and body temperature, all of which can give valuable clues into that person's state of mind.

The goal of the project at this time is simply to develop an accurate system for gauging user emotions, but the real benefit of such technology will be seen when computers are smart enough to act on the information and to head off computer-related aggression before it starts. Of course, it's entirely possible that a poor implementation of this idea (think Clippy) could actually increase user frustration, so caution is in order. Those who want to get hands-on with the technology can see a demonstration during CeBIT 2006 in Hanover, while the rest of us can simply get back to calling our computers vile names.

Emotion recognition systems are not just products for the lab, however. Relatively simple systems have already entered production use. Take as an example a new, high-tech prison in the Netherlands. The facility near Lelystad will house prisoners in six person dormitory cells where inmates will do their own cleaning and food prep, and will also set their own daily schedule using touch screens installed in the room. Options are limited, of course, but the prison still offers its inmates an unprecedented degree of freedom. The inmates wear electronic bracelets that allow guards to track their movements throughout the complex, and they are locked into their cells at night. In order to supervise them, a sophisticated closed-circuit camera system was installed (of course), but so were a series of microphones that are routed to a computer in the facility's control room. The computer monitors sounds coming from each dormitory and analyzes them based on frequency, pitch, and volume in order to detect disturbances that may be brewing.

You might think that with all this digital technology, the prison would be expensive. Since it will require fewer guards, though, the "Big Brother" prison is actually cheaper to operate than most others in the country. Its cost per prisoner per night is only US$125, down from an average of US$170. Though computers aren't yet at a point where they can read emotions as well as keystrokes, they already do a good enough job to save money, and so long as they do, we can expect these sorts of projects to continue.

[hiphop50girl]

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