Facial expressions are determined by our software, using data points from the Affectiva facial expression tracking plugin. The simulated 3D weather effects displayed on the screen change to reflect the user’s emotion, interpreted based on their expression. Emotions detected are: happy, sad, angry, surprised, and sleepy. A bright smile will trigger clouds clearing and rainbows rising, while furrowed brows might set off a thunderstorm!

The Emotion Wall has become a permanent installation that lives by the entrance of Gramercy Tech’s home office in New York. As with all our design and development sprints, we continue to brainstorm the endless ways in which the Emotion Wall can develop further in terms of functionality. Facial tracking could be used in market research to improve product usability, or to create more personalized user experiences. It could facilitate communication, by helping us better understand human emotion and behavior, potentially teaching us how to respond more sensitively. Emotion detection could even make our roads safer if used in vehicles to detect a driver’s drowsiness, irritation, or anxiety. We’re excited to share our progress, as we continue our research around emotion detection!