Computer Maps 21 Distinct Emotional Expressions—Even “Happily Disgusted”
Researchers at The Ohio State University have found a way for computers to recognize 21 distinct facial expressions—even expressions for complex or seemingly contradictory emotions such as “happily disgusted” or “sadly angry.”
(Image caption: Researchers at the Ohio State University have found a way for computers to recognize 21 distinct facial expressions — even expressions for complex or seemingly contradictory emotions. The study gives cognitive scientists more tools to study the origins of emotion in the brain. Here, a study participant makes three faces: happy (left), disgusted (center), and happily disgusted (right). Credit: Image courtesy of The Ohio State University.)
In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they report that they were able to more than triple the number of documented facial expressions that researchers can now use for cognitive analysis.
“We’ve gone beyond facial expressions for simple emotions like ‘happy’ or ‘sad.’ We found a strong consistency in how people move their facial muscles to express 21 categories of emotions,” said Aleix Martinez, a cognitive scientist and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State. “That is simply stunning. That tells us that these 21 emotions are expressed in the same way by nearly everyone, at least in our culture.”
The resulting computational model will help map emotion in the brain with greater precision than ever before, and perhaps even aid the diagnosis and treatment of mental conditions such as autism and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
