SBIR Phase I: Cloud-Enabled Analysis Of Facial Affect

Affectiva, Inc., Waltham MA

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop Affectiva Face Reader Platform; a cloud-enabled software as a service platform for the analysis of emotional and cognitive states from the face. Affectiva Face Reader Platform addresses potentially lucrative business opportunity in: 1) market research, 2) media research, 3) product testing and 4) usability testing, offering insights into customer resonance. The approach consists of building a multitier architecture that makes facial expression analysis seamless, scalable and affordable. The company envisions a product that offers face-analysis as an affordable software as a service solution using highly scalable cloud-computing resources, enabling use by academics and smaller users, and higher-profit use by heavy users in industry. The goal is a technology service that positively impacts the way customers and businesses communicate about product experiences. The proposed product is potentially transformative in several ways: the company is allowing more accurate understanding of an important aspect of human communication, and they are democratizing market research. In addition, the product if successfully deployed has the potential to accelerate psychological and clinical research on social intelligence.