A mechatronic engineering student from Australia’s Curtin University had developed an intelligent system capable of reading people’s emotions in real-time.
This project offers potential benefits for national security as well as health authorities.
About the Initiative
According to a recent press release, three artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms were used to create the system.
The algorithms are capable of assessing emotional reactions via the monitoring of real-time video footage.
Final-year student, Mr. Jordan Vice, was invited to present his work to the First IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Machine Intelligence held in Los Angeles recently.
He explained that the system, which was developed under the supervision of Dr Masood Khan, from the University’s School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, classified human emotions through facial and speech cues.
At any time, the system displays the number of feelings observed in real-time to help the relevant authorities to make the best decision and take the appropriate action.
These feelings include the following:
- Neutral
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Frightened
- Surprised
- Disgusted
The system can be mounted on a small artificial intelligence board of 10cm by 10cm and 6 to 8 cm in height.
In addition, it is capable of wirelessly communicating the required data to the relevant staff tasked with making high-level decisions, including at border crossing points or a psychological assessment.
Mr Vice had been offered a PhD scholarship to continue his cognitive and machine intelligence research at the University.
The system is light-weight, low-cost and small. Moreover, it can as well be easily uploaded to any desktop computer or laptop that is equipped with a web camera.
Other Artificial Intelligence Initiatives
Countries across the globe have recognised the significance of Artificial Intelligence and are developing initiatives to strengthen their capabilities.
Australia recently released an Artificial Intelligence Technology Roadmap, which was developed by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO.
The roadmap outlines the importance of action for Australia to capture the benefits of AI, which is estimated to be worth AU$ 22.17 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
It identifies strategies to help develop a national AI capability that will:
- Boost the productivity of Australian industry
- Create jobs and economic growth
- Improve the quality of life for current and future generations
Singapore is not far behind as it is taking major steps with Artificial Intelligence.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat made the announcement of five national AI-centred projects, which are housed under Singapore’s new “National AI Strategy”.
The strategy will be focused on employing AI technologies such as machine learning and computer vision and will be focused on the following areas:
- Transport and logistics
- Smart cities and estates
- Healthcare
- Education
- Safety and security
Compared to the two, the Philippines is a rookie in the Artificial Intelligence field.
Several Philippine government agencies, academic institutions and members of the industry are working together to draft an Artificial Intelligence roadmap in order to improve productivity and economic growth as well as transform the country to be more globally competitive.
An AI task force composed of seven agencies will be crafting the roadmap. These agencies are:
- Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
- The Departments of Agriculture (DA)
- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
- The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
- The Department of Education (DepEd)
- The Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
- The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Shifting towards new technology is critical as this will make the manufacturing industry more efficient and scalable in order to leapfrog to industrial development.