FacialExpressions
Latest
Your face might do more than just unlock the new iPhone
Apple's latest secret leak was from its own documentation -- and it's given plenty for developers to chew over. The latest code snippets shared by Guilherme Rambo and Steve Troughton-Smith offer all kinds of tantalising details that may (almost certainly) come with that new iPhone -- whichever model that may be. Not only are there further suggestions that the physical Home button will be ditched, but according to Troughton-Smith, some pointers inside the firmware for Apple's incoming HomePod suggest that a new iPhone could have a screen with a resolution far beyond that found existing models, as well as mentions of facial expression detection.
Wink to send a text with these experimental earbuds
We're always looking for new ways to control our mobile phones without using our hands, whether we're driving or at work. Voice control is fine but not always welcome in quiet spaces. The next frontier? Facial expressions. Imagine winking to pause your music while in the car, or smiling to text a smiley face. It could even help those with motor disabilities, too.
Samsung patent ties emotional states to virtual faces through voice, shows when we're cracking up
Voice recognition usually applies to communication only in the most utilitarian sense, whether it's to translate on the spot or to keep those hands on the wheel while sending a text message. Samsung has just been granted a US patent that would convey how we're truly feeling through visuals instead of leaving it to interpretation of audio or text. An avatar could change its eyes, mouth and other facial traits to reflect the emotional state of a speaker depending on the pronunciation: sound exasperated or brimming with joy and the consonants or vowels could lead to a furrowed brow or a smile. The technique could be weighted against direct lip syncing to keep the facial cues active in mid-speech. While the patent won't be quite as expressive as direct facial mapping if Samsung puts it to use, it could be a boon for more realistic facial behavior in video games and computer-animated movies, as well as signal whether there was any emotional subtext in that speech-to-text conversion -- try not to give away any sarcasm.
Baby robot Affetto gets a torso, still gives us the creeps (video)
It's taken a year to get the sinister ticks and motions of Osaka University's Affetto baby head out of our nightmares -- and now it's grown a torso. Walking that still-precarious line between robots and humans, the animated robot baby now has a pair of arms to call its own. The prototype upper body has a babyish looseness to it -- accidentally hitting itself in the face during the demo video -- with around 20 pneumatic actuators providing the movement. The face remains curiously paused, although we'd assume that the body prototype hasn't been paired with facial motions just yet, which just about puts it the right side of adorable. However, the demonstration does include some sinister faceless dance motions. It's right after the break -- you've been warned.
Fake robot baby provokes real screams (video)
Uncanny valley, heard of it? No worries, you're knee-deep in it right now. It's the revulsion you feel to robots, prostheses, or zombies that try, but don't quite duplicate their human models. As the robot becomes more humanlike, however, our emotional response becomes increasingly positive and empathetic. Unfortunately, the goal of Osaka University's AFFETTO was to create a robot modeled after a young child that could produce realistic facial expressions in order to endear it to a human caregiver in a more natural way. Impressive, sure, but we're not ready to let it suckle from our teat just yet.
Einstein robot learns to smile, teaches us how to feel
By now, you're no doubt well acquainted with the Albert Hubo Einstein robot developed by the mad scientists at KAIST, but some researchers at the University of California, San Diego has also been working on their own Einstein bot for the past little while, and they've now managed to teach it some new tricks. While the bot has previously been able to display a full range of expressions through some pre-programmed facial movements, it's now able to teach itself how to smile or display other emotions thanks to a new trial-and-error technique dubbed "body babble." That apparently works by comparing Einstein's attempts at an expression with some facial recognition software, which provides Al with some positive feedback each time he manages an actual expression. Did we mention there's a video? Check it out after the break.[Via Switched]Update: The folks at UC, San Diego have kindly pointed us towards a bit more background on their Einstein robot, including a video of its pre-self-teaching days, and a couple of behind-the-scenes pics. Head on past the break for one we like to call "Einstein: Behind the Face."
Kansei makes a comeback with reactive facial expressions
Quite a lot has transpired in the android universe in the past two years, and it's fairly safe to say that Kansei has made a few solid strides during that time as well. A Japanese research team has purportedly crafted a working prototype that can "pull up to 36 different facial expressions based on a program which creates word associations from a self-updating online database of 500,000 keywords." According to a professor at Meiji University's School of Science and Technology, the idea of the project is to "create a flow of consciousness in robots so that they can make the relevant facial expressions," and the device relies on 19 movable parts and a silicon face mask in order to work its magic. Developers also noted that speech abilities should be added within a few years, and while we doubt you had to guess, it's quite likely that fully developed Kanseis will one day roam nursing homes as Japan seeks to care for its quickly growing geriatric set.
