The smartphone reads emotions on the skin

A colored spiral on the screen: so the smartphone will reveal our emotions in real time, after capturing them on the skin thanks to an electronic bracelet that measures the electrical signals of the skin. Once collected, the data is reworked and displayed in a simple and intuitive way thanks to the new 'Affective Health' system, which also allows you to monitor the level of stress and performance during physical activity. The prototype was developed by the British University of Lancaster and the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology (Kth) as part of the European Horizon 2020 program.

"Our body produces a wide range of signals that can be measured," says study coordinator Pedro Sanches del Kth. "Over the years, various devices have been developed to measure these signals which we call biodata: think of the heart rate monitor that measures the heart rate during sports. However, there are also other biodata that can be used, such as skin conductance or the level of perspiration Making sense of them is not easy: people are not familiar with this information, it is not clear how they would like to use it or how they could interact with the devices that show it. "

To investigate this aspect, the researchers asked 23 volunteers to try Affective Health for a month: after explaining to them how the system detects the physical and emotional reactions on the skin, they left them free to experiment with it so that everyone could find the most congenial way to use it. Eventually some participants had learned to use the tool to measure and manage stress, others had adopted it to monitor physical activity and recovery times, while still others used it as an emotion diary. Few had gotten used to using the system for more than one purpose.

The results will serve the second phase of the project to perfect the system by specializing it according to the different functions it can perform.