This article describes a new system that monitors people as they view advertising and records the emotions they show on their face. I doubt that the system will be accurate enough to detect important, subtle differences in emotion (e.g., amusement versus bemused annoyance), but the possibilities are interesting.
Advertisements That Watch You Smile | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 10.07.2007
Imagine the following scenario: a perfume advertisement hangs in the departure lounge of an airport where thousands of people see it each day. Some people stop and stare. Others walk by amused. Still others seem puzzled.
Usually, advertisers can only guess at the public’s reaction to a new ad campaign. But new technology under development by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS) in the southern German town of Erlangen makes that type of data instantly accessible to advertisers.
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