Coming Soon: Mind-Reading Computers
From: Reuters - 06/26/2006
By: Patricia Reaney

British researchers plan to use a four-day science exhibition starting Monday
in London to gather more data for an application that would allow computers
to read people's minds. Peter Robinson, a professor at the University of
Cambridge in England, and his colleagues will allow attendees at the Royal
Society-organized event to participate in a study to analyze their facial
movements for signs of boredom, interest, confusion, agreement, or
disagreement. The system makes use of a video camera pointed at someone to
determine their emotional state, says Robinson. "Imagine a computer that
could pick the right emotional moment to try to sell you something, a future
where mobile phones, cars, and Web sites could read our mind and react to our
moods," he explains. "For example, a Web cam linked with our software could
process your image, encode the correct emotional state, and transmit
information to a Web site." He adds that the application could be used to
improve online learning and road safety because it could determine when a
person is confused or tired. The British scientists have teamed up with
researchers at MIT for the project, and they are considering other input for
the application, such as posture and gestures. 

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Links:
Computers 'set to read our minds'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5116762.stm

Emotion sensor 'detects boredom'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4856050.stm

Computers that can read minds may help fight autism
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/26/ncomputer26.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/26/ixuknews.html

Peter Robinson
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/pr/

Emotionally intelligent interfaces  
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/Rainbow/emotions/

Mind-reading machines
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/Rainbow/emotions/mind-reading.html

Mind-reading examples  
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/Rainbow/emotions/demo/