Reading Pain in a Human Face - NYTimes.com

How well can computers interact with humans? Certainly computers play a mean game of chess, which requires strategy and logic, and "Jeopardy!," in which they must process language to understand the clues read by Alex Trebek (and buzz in with the correct question).But in recent years, scientists have striven for an even more complex goal: programming computers to read human facial expressions.We all know what it's like to experience pain that makes our faces twist into a grimace. But can you tell if someone else's face of pain is real or feigned?The practical applications could be profound. Computers could supplement or even replace lie detectors. They could be installed at border crossings and airport security checks. They could serve as diagnostic aids for doctors.Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have written software that not only detected whether a person's face revealed genuine or faked pain, but did so far more accurately than human observers.While other scientists have already refined a computer's ability to identify nuances of smiles and grimaces, this may be the first time a computer has triumphed over humans at reading their own species."A particular success like this has been elusive," said Matthew A. Turk, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "It's one of several recent examples of how the field is now producing useful&nb...
Source: Psychology of Pain - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs