It's 2014. We're in the middle of a rapidly moving technological revolution which means we're all spending more time with internet cats and less time with actual people – but is all this solo time blunting our ability to judge the feelings of those we meet in real life? A bunch of German software developers think so, and they've created an emotion-reading Google Glass app to help.
Sophisticated High-speed Object Recognition (or SHORE for short) uses a database of over 10,000 analysed facial features from people experiencing different emotions. When the app is installed on Glass, it can tell you if people in front of you are angry, happy, sad or surprised – enabling you to say exactly the right thing at the right time. Sounds totally natural to us.
The developers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany believe that SHORE isn't just for emotionally-stunted cyborgs like you or I – they believe it could help people with autism figure out what someone is feeling, which is something that those with the condition typically struggle with. The app doesn't retain any identifying data, either, so users won't be able to retain personal details of the people they see.
Google Glass hasn't had the most auspicious of starts, with many freaking out over its surveillance capacities and criticising out the Glasshole-ish tendencies of early adoptors. Some users have even been attacked for wearing the tech.
SHORE is not available for download yet, but you can check out a demo of how it works below:
