Scientists Propose App That Detects Emotions Based On Walking Style

An anonymous reader writes: Chinese researchers claim to be able to deduce a person's emotional state using accelerometer data from mobile devices attached to the wrist and ankle. The study recorded baseline data and then comparitive data after showing either disturbing or amusing videos to test subjects. The paper envisages the ultimate development of smartphone and wearable apps capable of providing systematic long-term and short-term data on someone's state of being, based mostly on the movement of the ankle whilst walking. They posit the usefulness of the information in medical applications, but do not address possible unsuitable uses, such as for the purposes of employment assessment or insurance premiums.

Comments

Silly Walks To Throw Off The Data

[Jason Levine]

I wonder how the ankle device would cope with a silly walk. At the very least, the workplace would get more interesting as people don't walk from point A to point B in a normal manner.