How new technology can help us understanding body language and emotions? Is it yet the time to watch our emotions analyzed on the screen by the gesture recognition software? Regarding facial expressions, some brand new software offers to have a better understanding of emotions. You can imagine how it would be such a huge support for some specific situations and how big the potential business it represents. At Apostrof, we love innovation. So we have seriously studied these new tools: here are our thoughts and opinions on the issue.
How does it work and what are the key benefits?
Hundred of thoughts and emotions are going through our face every minutes. This is why non-verbal behavior is so difficult to consider as a whole. To be simple “our body is constantly changing our posture and moving”. Depending on the situation, one part of our moves are make consciously and the other part are done in a non-conscious way. Indeed, you are not able to notice when your pupils dilate or retract for example. Many research laboratories are working on gesture recognition software.
The objective is to analyze the thousands of parameters which can be observed on speakers. It is able to automatically observe and translate gestures and actions into some understanding data. The advantage of this kind of software is that it is very easy to implement, even for a non-expert. As described before, the gesture recognition software automatically observe and show its results on the screen: analysis of facial expressions. You can either use live or recorded videos.
The platform automatically identifies the movements of the facial muscles and associates the corresponding emotions in real time. The tool offers the possibility of performing the analysis of several people at once, which is convenient in a context of a group discussion. This makes it easier to identify facial expressions, even on several people at one glance, to have a multi-analysis in a given situation. The gesture recognition software aim to decrypt the emotions during interviews or group chat. As the platform clarifies all the speakers’ feelings, it can offer an interesting basis for a first analysis of emotions.
How relevant is the instantaneous emotions recognition?
In spite of undeniable advantages, we also need to define how relevant it is to use an automatic emotions recognition software. Indeed, how to take advantage of reading second-by-second speaker’ emotions? It’s a fact, the human being is made to produce emotions. So, should we take into account every emotions? Are they all meaning something? In everyday life, our ability to grasp the emotion of others allows us to adapt accordingly and therefore optimize our communication and our relationships.
In facial expressions recognition, the question is whether the emotions shown are representative of what is really happening. Indeed, it is common that we try to hide some of our emotions in order to show a face that we find more appropriate in a “function” or “role”. Furthermore, we we may not be aware of some mixed emotions: a deeper emotion can be masked by a stronger one.
It is actually a good thing to become better able to read emotional signal conveyed as well as empathize with other people’s emotions and to have better relationships. However you should wonder how a specific emotion is related to a specific situation or sentence. The Synergology, a discipline based on baby language, is there to remind us that we should also consider the cognitive part of the observed elements. Finally, this kind of software is not programmed to detect surreptitious movements of the mouth for example (unconscious and therefore uncontrollable movement) also indicating a gap between the displayed (non-verbal or verbal) attitude and the one really felt inside.
TO LEARN MORE …
Explore how an individual will perform in the future : Discover our Assessment Center based on simulation of a professional environment.
If you’d like to learn more about assessing and developing your leadership team, get in touch with us, fill in the contact form below.
0 Comments