This week's insight highlights a quickly growing company in the field of AI Emotional Intelligence. Affectiva, a spin-off of MIT's Media Lab, was founded in 2009, and began aggressively patenting its technology in 2011. Since then, the company has had 29 patents, and over 80 applications published. Their most recent patent, titled "Vehicle Manipulation Using Occupant Image Analysis,"
teaches a method that utilizes facial scans and movement monitoring to detect the mood and comfort level of a passenger in a vehicle. Using this information, the car can automatically adjust an array of parameters including the seats, climate, lighting, music, audio stimuli, and mirror arrangement. Additionally, the technology can also be used in autonomous vehicles to adjust the speed and route traversed depending on the perceived mood of the occupant. For example, if the car was to detect a stressful occupant, it may suggest a scenic back road home rather then a busy highway. The patent also teaches safety measures that can be taken based on facial scans and movement monitoring. If the system was to detect for example drowsiness, or overly aggressive behavior, it will recommend the occupant pull over and take a break, or again suggest a less stressful route.
Although '7817 focuses specifically on detecting a vehicular occupant's mood, Affectiva's AI Emotional Intelligence software has many other applications. The software, originally designed to assist individuals with autism, has since been expanded for use in VR, advertisement response tracking, and even political polling response tracking. Make sure to subscribe to Magic Number® AI Biotech/Diagnostics: Neurology Patent Forecast® to stay up to date with the latest patent activity in the emerging field of AI Emotional Intelligence!
