I do not want a computer telling me what other people are feeling, or telling other people what it thinks I am feeling – these emotion indicating glasses do not appeal to me at all. First, even if people only assess others’ emotions correctly 54% of the time, a 64% success rate isn’t that impressive either. It means that over a third of the time, you could be getting the wrong advice from your emotional feedback device. Furthermore, this tells you nothing about why the person is reacting that way. If you say something that makes me react in a confused manner, perhaps you are being confusing, or perhaps you have said something brilliantly illuminating that has made me realize I am now confused about something else entirely. If I am pretending not to be bored while gently redirecting the conversation, don’t we both lose by having my rudeness and your dullness exposed?
I spend entirely too much time already worrying about how people will react to my facial expressions – this just sounds like an utter disaster.
Glimpses of the websurfing habits of a computer science professor, obsessive crafter, occasional gamer, and all around geek