It would be very tricky for an average person to distinguish a real smile from a fake one. Fortunately, we have scientists, who, at this point, could do pretty much everything.
Researchers at the University of Bradford have developed a computer software capable of spotting fake facial expressions.
By analysing the movement of the smile across a person’s face, the software can determine whether or not the expression is genuine. The most significant movements detected by the software were around the eyes, supporting popular theories that a spontaneous, genuine smile is one that can be seen in a person’s eyes.
“A smile is perhaps the most common of facial expressions and is a powerful way of signalling positive emotions,” says Hassan Ugail, Professor of Visual Computing at the University of Bradford, who led the research. “Techniques for analysing human facial expressions have advanced dramatically in recent years, but distinguishing between genuine and posed smiles remains a challenge because humans are not good at picking up the relevant cues.”
The software works by first mapping a person’s face from within a video recording, and identifying the mouth, cheeks and eyes of the subject. It then measures how these facial features move through the progress of the smile and calculates the differences in movement between the video clips showing real and fake smiles.
Researchers tested the software using two datasets, one containing images of people expressing real smiles, and the other one images of people with fake smiles.
Find out what happened next on Neuroscience News.
(Image Credit: DzeeShah/ Pixabay)
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