Amazon Reportedly Working on a Wearable That Reads Human Emotions

Amazon wearable reads emotions
Image: Pixabay

Amazon is reportedly working on a wearable that will tell you to calm down when you’re angry. According to the latest report from Bloomberg, the wrist-worn, voice activated device is able to read human emotions. Amazon would be able to collect emotion information and perhaps share it with other health products, Bloomberg’s sources say.

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Bloomberg also reports that Amazon’s new device would use the emotion data to serve relevant ads or product recommendations to people based on their emotional state. For example, when a person is happy the device will show them ad or product recommendation that would suit his or her happy state of mind. If a person is feeling sad, angry, fearful or any type of negative emotions, that person would get different recommendations to suit their mood.

Bloomberg reviewed internal Amazon documents, which reportedly show the Alexa voice software team and Amazon’s Lab126 hardware division are collaborating on the wearable in development.

“Designed to work with a smartphone app, the device has microphones paired with software that can discern the wearer’s emotional state from the sound of his or her voice, according to the documents and a person familiar with the program. Eventually the technology could be able to advise the wearer how to interact more effectively with others,” reports Bloomberg.

wearable device

Amazon’s new venture suggests the company might be on to something. According to a 2016 Nielsen research, ads that considered human emotion and elicited an emotional response generated a 23% gain in sales volume, compared to those that didn’t include emotional elements.

Related This Gadget Can Communicate Human Emotions Through Touch

A diagram in the patent filed in 2017, says “the technology can detect an abnormal emotional condition and shows a sniffling woman telling Alexa she’s hungry. The digital assistant, picking up that she has a cold, asks the woman if she would like a recipe for chicken soup,” Bloomberg reports.

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Cathy Russey
Cathy Russey () is Online Editor at WT | Wearable Technologies and specialized in writing about the latest medical wearables and enabling technologies on the market. Cathy can be contacted at info(at)wearable-technologies.com.