Their finding is that the emerging technology holds great potential for psychological research and may even replace in-person observations in emotion research. However, the programs’ sensitivity is still to be improved.
What was recently considered science-fiction, is now common: The smartphone recognizes the face of its owner. But will electronic devices soon be able to read our emotions? In numerous studies, psychologists of the University of Mannheim, led by Professor Dr. Georg W. Alpers und Dr. Tim Höfling, tried to answer this question. In interdisciplinary collaborations with other higher education institutions, the researchers conducted a series of experiments and published the findings in four international journals. In these studies, they tested the accuracy of this innovative technology and analyzed its potential for various applications. The technology is able to recognize intensive and, in particular, standardized facial expressions very well. However, it remains unclear if the technology is also able to recognize more naturalistic emotional facial expressions.