ERS

A computer program that reads human expressions. Online marketers are increasingly using ERS technology to determine what gives consumers bliss.

But how does software analyze emotion? When we smile, frown or grimace, thousands of tiny facial muscles are at work. Emotion-recognition software (ERS) creates a 3-D face map, pinpointing 12 key trigger areas like eye and mouth corners. Then a face-tracking algorithm matches the movements to six basic expression patterns, corresponding to anger, sadness, fear, surprise, disgust and happiness, or a mixture of them.