The Facing Emotions app
It only takes an instant for emotions to show themselves. An emotion doesn’t need hiding or covering up, it comes out automatically in our facial expressions. It only takes a trained eye and observations to pinpoint someone’s emotions without any words. But it was a big challenge for a blind or visually impaired person until the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, with advanced AI capabilities, that helps those visually impaired recognize emotions accurately and more easily.
A lot of the time we don’t think about the importance of non-verbal communication in our relationships with other people. There are hundreds of muscles in our faces and they can be used to create over 10,000 different effects that are expressed in a variety of emotions. Reading a person’s face is nearly instinctive while hiding an emotion is near impossible. A brow raising, a thin eyebrow bob, a corner of the mouth tilting up slightly, can indicate someone’s feelings. “We can very quickly, in a split second, make complex associations without even realising it,” says psychologist and pioneer of the study of emotions and their relationship with facial expressions, Paul Ekman.
If deprived of sight, communication would be more difficult due to our reliance on visual cues. Imagine how having a life without the ability to see expression would be. People would lose a main part of world interaction. Words might be carefully chosen and voice tonality might change to mask the emotion of how you really feel. The other person’s face cannot be seen, so it is nearly impossible to accurately assess what they are feeling.Huawei has now solved the pressure for those with vision impairment.
The Facing Emotions app by Huawei, for the Mate 20 Pro, can read the seven main emotions: joy, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, fear and contempt. These emotions reach people regardless of culture and ethnic background, so they’re universal.
Darwin’s theory in “The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals” depicts emotions as developed by nature. Assuming that people express emotions in a similar way, regardless of gender, age or culture.People have an innate survival instinct that has led to developing more sophisticated methods of expressing their negative emotions. This has left joy as the only positive emotion among the seven main emotions.
Paul Ekman showed people in Chile, Argentina, the USA, Brazil and Japan images of faces expressing different emotions. On each occasion, the subjects saw and classified these pictures in the same way. This study found that emotions have a biological link, not impacted by social-cultural factors. The brain receives the information and stimulus and reacts by sending the corresponding signals to specific muscles. So, when people are happy, their mouth curves upwards and the corners of their eyes crinkle with subtle smiled lines. When they’re sad, it looks like the corners of their mouth go down and the inner part of their eyebrows droop.For example, when we see someone we dislike, our brain will send a specific command to our facial muscles that will trigger a response of disgust.
“I don’t see any obstacles in my life, but there is one thing I can’t do. That is to recognize the expressions on other people’s faces.” Mirjana, a 25-year-old Swede says. Her sight was taken away at 10 years old, but she didn’t let that stop her from climbing Mt. Everest. The app that she uses is Facing Emotions and it’s an innovative solution for someone who can’t see. It allows her to understand her mother’s emotions without having to rely on others.
Robert, 37 years old from Poland is worried that he is gradually losing his sight. He would like to know that his 9-year-old son is ready for the difficulties ahead. I’m afraid he’s carrying a lot of my burden, says Robert.
Huawei is making it possible for those who are blind and visually impaired to finally “see” the emotions of their loved ones.
The new Mate 20 Pro features an advanced AI system that can recognise emotions. The dedicated Facing Emotions app can digitally depict facial expressions.
AI allows automated systems to perform tasks that require “thinking.”AI stores information and experiences in response to the world around it, then uses this data to react appropriately. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro features the world’s first chip with Dual-NPU (dual neural processor unit) and all-new Kirin 980 processor that together offer tremendous computing power.Huawei’s unique AI system allows you to listen to seven main emotions and transform them into seven unique sounds.
Emotions are a major part of our lives, making them very difficult to ignore. In the movie “The Brains You Carry,” this proves it. Pixar wonderfully depicts how we feel, think, dream or cloud over. It, also, depicts how it is all driven by joy, sadness, anger and disgust originally only covered in the film. In fact there are 7 main emotions along with surprise and contempt.
Dr. Robert Plutchik, the American psychiatrist, believes that the basic and main emotions are those that have no subdivisions. They cannot break down into smaller pieces. They are also emotions without any other possible emotions inside them.”By these criteria, hostility is not a main emotion since it is a combination of anger and aversion. For Paul Ekman, a core emotion is distinguishable by its universal signal (facial expression) and by the fact that it is evoked automatically (subconsciously and involuntarily). It is also evident in primates besides humans. Scientists have found that some emotions are aroused subconsciously.”It is very likely that the brain knows what is right and wrong before you do it”. Neuroscientist Joseph LeDouxwrites writes the above in his work “The Emotional Brain”.
Of the 10,000-plus expressions made by our face, only seven of them are for primary emotions. Just like we have the seven primary colours for colour on the color spectrum. Thousands of other micro-expressions are simply combinations of these seven basic ones, such as pleasant surprise. These combinations happens to mask the true emotion. It is also possible to fake a smile intentionally. If you want to convey a particular emotion, you can do it with a smile that has infinite nuances such as being one of contempt, embarrassment or flirtation.
It’s not enough when you consider the amount of expressions identified, but that’s only on the surface. Full knowledge of all these combinations is only useful in specific situations or professions, such as that of a negotiator, researcher, or psychologist. They are not commonly used in everyday life. If a blind person can read the seven main emotions in one person, it is easier to talk to the other.
To tell if someone is smiling, a blind person can easily use the Facing Emotions app on their phone. The Huawei Mate 20 and the app will do the rest.
Once you activate Facing Emotions app, the rear camera scans the face of the person or people using it and AI takes over.This app can recognize and emit sounds as a notification to alert you to different emotions that might be happening around you, such as happiness, anger or sadness.When the app sees a smile, it will emit a happy marimba sound, while when it sees sadness, a melancholy tune will then play from the device.When someone feels disgust, the phone will produce a mechanical bubbling sound.
A composer made sounds that are concise, easily distinguishable, and perfect for making sound-impressions. Those sound-impressions used, create a sonic correspondence for emotions. Joy, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, fear and contempt are detectable for the Facing Emotions app.
A phone case made by Jan Kochański exclusively for the new Huawei P20 Pro. It hangs on your neck and lets you use your hands freely. This cool design is available for purchase. If you prefer to download it yourself, a 3D printable version is also available for your convenience.
It is important for blind people to be able to see the emotions of others. This is because expressions reaffirm words and reinforce messages.
“Emotions are not like the appendix, an organ we can remove. Emotions are the core of our being,” says Paul Ekman. “Thanks to emotions, life is worth living.”
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
