We have surpassed the previous version again and are very satisfied with the new FaceReader 9 release. FaceReader 9 has improved deep learning based modelling capabilities for higher quality and faster analysis. It features a completely new project analysis module which will make the analysis of your results much easier. There are also some new features and outputs, such as gaze direction, head position, heart rate variability, and operators in the custom expression module.

Unfortunately, due to the current corona crisis, events all over the world are cancelled and traveling is almost impossible. This is also a shame for young researchers that can no longer present their research at conferences. Luckily, conference organizers have also found a way to continue online. Amogh Gudi and Marian Bittner, our PhD candidate researchers, have recently presented at two online AI conferences on two very interesting topics.

AI innovations are one of the most relevant topics of the 21st century. AI is everywhere in our everyday life, but to many people this presence is very abstract. Therefore, the Technological Museum of Vienna has created an exhibition on robotics and AI to help uncover the surrounding myths. The museum wants to give visitors a transparent look at the utopias and hysterias surrounding humanoid robots and autonomous systems. The exhibition allows visitors to dive into the fascinating algorithms of artificial intelligence. We were happy to collaborate on one of the exhibits: The Mirror Cube, where people can experience what it is like to “become data”.

We can no longer imagine a world without interacting with machines. Staying informed on developments in human-computer interaction research is important; therefore, VicarVision is happy to be a member of the Man-Machine Interaction Platform (MMI). MMI is a Dutch platform with people from business, universities, and research institutes that aims to support collaboration and knowledge exchange in this field.

VicarVision hosted the most recent (online) member meeting on our own expertise: the use of artificial intelligence for emotion recognition. We addressed this topic from multiple viewpoints with presentations on the technology and applications, but also presentations related to ethics of A.I.

Computer algorithms can help determine what media messages we see. They help analyze what we think of it. But how smart are these artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms? And are they creative? Can AI create an actual Eurovision song? These were some of the questions and topics raised at the Cross Media Café, which is an initiative of Media Perspectives and The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. At this interesting event, we were asked to give a talk about our online emotion analysis platform, FaceReader Online. In this blog post, we would like to share some of the interesting insights that we heard and shared (see also in Dutch this Media Perspectives blog post).