Amazon Wearable Device Reads Human Emotions: 'Dylan'

[appalachiablue]

(Bloomberg)- Amazon is developing a voice-activated wearable device that can recognize human emotions. 5/23/19. The wrist-worn gadget is described as a health and wellness product in internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg. Designed to work with a smartphone app, the device has microphones paired with software that can discern the wearer’s emotional state from the sound of his or her voice, according to the documents and a person familiar with the program. Eventually the technology could be able to advise the wearer how to interact more effectively with others, the documents show.

It’s unclear how far along the project is, or if it will ever become a commercial device. Work on the project, code-named Dylan, was ongoing recently. The technology could help the company gain insights for potential health products or be used to better target advertising or product recommendations. The concept is likely to add fuel to the debate about the amount and type of personal data scooped up by technology giants, which already collect reams of information about their customers.



The notion of building machines that can understand human emotions has long been a staple of science fiction, from stories by Isaac Asimov to Star Trek’s android Data. A U.S. patent filed in 2017 describes a system in which voice software uses analysis of vocal patterns to determine how a user is feeling, discerning among “joy, anger, sorrow, sadness, fear, disgust, boredom, stress, or other emotional states.” A diagram in the patent filing says the technology can detect an abnormal emotional condition and shows a sniffling woman telling Alexa she’s hungry. The digital assistant, picking up that she has a cold, asks the woman if she would like a recipe for chicken soup.

Amazon has also been working on a domestic robot, Bloomberg reported last year. Codenamed “Vesta,” after the Roman goddess of the hearth, home and family, the bot could be a kind of mobile Alexa, according to people familiar with the project. Prototypes of the robot can navigate through homes like a self-driving car...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-23/amazon-is-working-on-a-wearable-device-that-reads-human-emotions

[hlthe2b]

1. Seeing someone wearing one of those would make me permanently "pissed off"

so, I guess it would have to be accurate...

[appalachiablue]

5. "Hello, hlthe2b, your negative emotion monitor indicates

that you have exceeded normal stress levels. Report to the wellness center for evaluation within 1 hour. LoL, DYLAN."

[earthshine]

3. They were a fad when I was in fourth grade.

That having been said, they didn't work at all.

They just changed color based on changes in body temperature.

[appalachiablue]

6. Tx for that, I remember them.

[Dem2theMax]

8. Amazon should stop wasting their money.

I've had one of those devices for almost 63 years.

I don't call it 'Dylan.' I call it my brain.

[Crunchy Frog]

9. Sounds like something out of Doctor Who

http://www.aveleyman.com/TVEpisode.aspx?FilmID=1628&Episode=20170422

?quality=90&lb=556,370&background=white