Scientists have created a computer system that is able to recognise human emotions, just by hearing a person's voice.
David Grill, a professor in Universidad Carlos III de Madrid's Computer Science Department and one of its creators, explained that the machine can adapt dialogue and responses to a person's emotional state.
He said the development was prompted by emotions that people commonly feel when talking to a machine, namely anger, boredom and doubt, so that these problems could be alleviated.
"Thanks to this new development, the machine will be able to determine how the user feels (emotions) and how s/he intends to continue the dialogue (intentions)," he told the Journal on Advances in Signal Processing.
The report explained that in response to doubt, the machine will offer more detail, but it will not make this offer if it detects boredom as it could make the situation worse.
This development follows hot on the heels of the creation of metal that can become invisible at the flick of a switch.
Posted by Ben Evans