INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightAffectivaImage caption
Affectiva says its algorithms can detect hidden emotions in facial expressions
Facial recognition tech is becoming more sophisticated, with some firms claiming it can even read our emotions and detect
But what implications does this have for privacy and civil libertiesFacial recognition tech has been around for decades, but it has been
progressing in leaps and bounds in recent years due to advances in computing vision and artificial intelligence (AI), tech experts say
It is now being used to identify people at borders, unlock smart phones, spot criminals, and authenticate banking transactions.But some tech
firms are claiming it can also assess our emotional state.Since the 1970s, psychologists say they have been able to detect hidden emotions
by studying the "micro expressions" on someone's face in photographs and video
Algorithms and high definition cameras can handle this process just as accurately and faster, tech firms say."You're already seeing it used
for commercial purposes," explains Oliver Philippou, an expert in video surveillance at IHS Markit
Image copyrightAppleImage caption
The iPhone X can be unlocked using facial recognition
"A supermarket
might use it in the aisles, not to identify people, but to analyse who came in in terms of age and gender as well as their basic mood
It can help with targeted marketing and product placement."Market research agency Kantar Millward Brown uses tech developed by US firm
Affectiva to assess how consumers react to TV adverts
Affectiva records video of people's faces - with their permission - then "codes" their expressions frame by frame to assess their mood
"We interview people but we get much more nuance by also looking at their expressions
You can see exactly which part of an advert is working well and the emotional response triggered," says Graham Page, managing director of
offer and innovation at Kantar Millward Brown.Image copyrightWeSeeImage caption
WeSee's tech is being used to assess
people's emotional state during interviews
More controversially, a crop of start-ups are offering "emotion detection" for
UK firm WeSee, for example, claims its AI tech can actually spot suspicious behaviour by reading facial cues imperceptible to the untrained
Emotions, such as doubt and anger, might be hidden under the surface in contrast to the language a person is using
WeSee says it has been working with a "high profile" organisation in law enforcement to analyse people who are being interviewed
"Using only low-quality video footage, our technology has the ability to determine an individual's state of mind or intent through their
facial expressions, posture, gestures and movement," chief executive David Fulton tells the TheIndianSubcontinent."In future, video cameras
on a tube station platform could use our tech to detect suspicious behaviour and alert authorities to a potential terrorist threat
Image caption
Could emotion surveillance spot people likely to cause trouble at large events
"The same
could be done with crowds at events like football matches or political rallies."But Mr Philippou is sceptical about the accuracy of emotion
"When it comes simply to identifying faces, there are still decent margins of error - the best firms claim they can identify people with
"When you try assess emotions, too, the margin of error gets significantly bigger."That worries privacy campaigners who fear facial
recognition tech could make wrong or biased judgements."While I can imagine that there are some genuinely useful use-cases, the privacy
implications stemming from emotional surveillance, facial recognition and facial profiling are unprecedented," says Frederike Kaltheuner of
Privacy International.Straightforward facial recognition is controversial enough.Image copyrightSouth Wales PoliceImage caption
South Wales Police scans faces using surveillance cameras
When revellers attended TheIndianSubcontinent Radio 1's
Biggest Weekend in Swansea in May, many will have been unaware that their faces were being scanned as part of a huge surveillance operation
by South Wales Police.The force had deployed its Automated Facial Recognition (AFR) system, which uses CCTV-type cameras and NEC software to
identify "people of interest", comparing their faces to a database of custody images
One man on an outstanding warrant was identified and arrested "within 10 minutes" of the tech being deployed at the music festival, says
Scott Lloyd, the AFR project leader for South Wales Police
But human rights group Liberty points out that the tech has yielded large numbers of "false positive" matches at other events, such as the
Champions League final in Cardiff last year
And in July, Cardiff resident Ed Bridges - represented by Liberty - began legal action against the force, arguing that AFR violated people's
privacy and lacked proper scrutiny, paving the way for a High Court battle.But the technology is becoming more reliable, says Patrick
Grother, head of biometric testing at the National Institute of Standards Technology, a US federal agency that conducts research into
facial recognition.Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Chinese police recently began using sunglasses fitted with a facial
recognition system
He attributes the recent technological progress to the development of "convolutional neural networks" -
an advanced form of machine learning that enables a much greater degree of accuracy
"These algorithms allow computers to analyse images at different scales and angles," he says
"You can identify faces much more accurately, even if they are partially obscured by sunglasses or scarves
The error rate has come down ten-fold since 2014, although no algorithm is perfect."WeSee's Mr Fulton says his tech is simply a tool to help
people assess existing video footage more intelligently
He adds that WeSee can detect emotion in faces as effectively as a human can - "with around 60%-70% accuracy".Image copyrightMagnum
Photos"At the moment we can detect suspicious behaviour, but not intent, to prevent something bad from happening
But I think this is where it is going and we are already doing tests in this area." This sounds a step closer to the "pre-crime" concept
featured in the sci-fi film Minority Report, where potential criminals are arrested before their crimes have even been committed
A further concern for civil liberties organisations"The key question we always ask ourselves is: Who is building this technology and for
what purposes" says Privacy International's Frederike Kaltheuner
"Is it used to help us - or to judge, assess and control us" Follow Technology of Business editor Matthew Wall on Twitter and Facebook
