Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IISAI-based affective computing, also known as emotion AI, is concerned with recognising emotions and affects by analysing faces in camera images. Combining this optical emotion recognition (SHORE®) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a technology that can visualise brain activity with high temporal and spatial resolution, produces significantly better and more accurate results for predicting patients' emotion-driven decisions and their emotional state. The resulting emotion parameters play an important role in psychological, sociological and medical contexts.
The aim of the MRI-Bioface project is to develop a manufacturer-independent complete solution for the simultaneous recording of emotions (camera), vital parameters (pulse) and brain activity (fMRI) based on various stimuli (e.g. visual, acoustic, ...) by combining both technologies. Special attention will be paid to the multimodal data acquisition and its correlation and comparison with the induced stimuli.
Benefits for manufacturers and distributors
The planned prototype offers enormous competitive advantages for manufacturers and distributors of MRI components and manufacturers of fMRI accessories: the motion artefacts caused by unintentional head movements can be limited by direct feedback and both the validity of the measurements and the recording quality of the fMRI scans can be significantly improved. In addition, the prototype can be used on all conventional MRI devices thanks to its integration into the Fraunhofer MEVIS gammaSTAR platform.