Smithsonian Magazine Honors Pioneer in Emotion Recognition Technology.
BOSTON, Nov. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Today, at the National Portrait Gallery, Dr. Rana el Kaliouby receives Smithsonian magazine’s American Ingenuity Award for Technology. Smithsonian magazine honors Dr. el Kaliouby for her groundbreaking work in emotion recognition technology.
Co-founder of Affectiva, her company has compiled the world’s largest repository of human emotion data, based on more than three million face videos from over 75 countries and collecting over 40 billion “emotion data points”. Affectiva’s emotion sensing and analytics technology uses a standard webcam or mobile device camera to measure facial expressions of emotion. Built with computer vision and machine learning methodologies, the emotion recognition algorithms are able to detect “micro expressions” to determine a person’s precise mood.
The potential applications are endless, from market research in media and advertising to car safety, health care, education and beyond. Earlier this year, Affectiva launched a software development kit (SDK), making the technology available to developers interested in incorporating users’ real-time emotions into their apps and digital experiences.
Born and raised in Cairo, el Kaliouby’s passion for decoding human emotions is set to change how we interact with our devices—and each other.
The Smithsonian magazine American Ingenuity Awards event is the fourth annual celebration of innovation sponsored by Smithsonian magazine. The awards honored 12 people across nine categories, including technology, performing arts, visual arts, natural sciences, physical sciences, education, history, social progress and youth achievement. The December issue of Smithsonian magazine features Dr. el Kaliouby and her fellow award recipients, highlighting the profound innovation these award winners are each making in their fields.