More research hitting the headlines today and here’s some that I think REALLY highlights the fact that scientists have too much time on their hands: Chocolate is a girl's best friend and apples are her worst enemy! Now that’s worth spending money to know isn’t it? Scientists Have studied the facial expressions of 300 women in six European countries. They were filmed as they ate ice cream, chocolate, cereal bars, yogurt and apples. Their facial expressions were then mapped using new computer software that claims to be able to read emotions. They’ve discovered chocolate is the best food to make a woman smile (Ground breaking stuff huh?) Apples produced 87 per cent neutral expressions across the continent with Italians and Swedes most likely to appear sad when eating them. Yogurt caused "sad" expressions for 28 per cent. You can see a method to their madness however, the new software tracks muscle movements across the face - when we smile, frown or grimace, thousands of tiny facial muscles are at work. The computer maps these movements onto a virtual face, then matches them to six basic patterns corresponding to anger, sadness, fear, surprise, disgust and happiness. The software may eventually be used to test things like reduced-fat and low-calorie ice creams to see if they maintain the 'pleasure principle'. Needless to say in tests on women (who tend to have more expressive faces) the software registered fewer positive reactions for healthy foods.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Research, Research, Research!
More research hitting the headlines today and here’s some that I think REALLY highlights the fact that scientists have too much time on their hands: Chocolate is a girl's best friend and apples are her worst enemy! Now that’s worth spending money to know isn’t it? Scientists Have studied the facial expressions of 300 women in six European countries. They were filmed as they ate ice cream, chocolate, cereal bars, yogurt and apples. Their facial expressions were then mapped using new computer software that claims to be able to read emotions. They’ve discovered chocolate is the best food to make a woman smile (Ground breaking stuff huh?) Apples produced 87 per cent neutral expressions across the continent with Italians and Swedes most likely to appear sad when eating them. Yogurt caused "sad" expressions for 28 per cent. You can see a method to their madness however, the new software tracks muscle movements across the face - when we smile, frown or grimace, thousands of tiny facial muscles are at work. The computer maps these movements onto a virtual face, then matches them to six basic patterns corresponding to anger, sadness, fear, surprise, disgust and happiness. The software may eventually be used to test things like reduced-fat and low-calorie ice creams to see if they maintain the 'pleasure principle'. Needless to say in tests on women (who tend to have more expressive faces) the software registered fewer positive reactions for healthy foods.
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