A new Google Glass app can help a user identify a person's gender, guess their age and measure their emotional status in real-time, CNET reported on Wednesday.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits has adapted its Sophisticated High-Speed Object Recognition Engine facial recognition technology (SHORE) for Google's internet-adapted headset. The SHORE glassware app processes video in real-time on the Glass processor. The company promises to never send the data out to reassure users that they won't be tracked through facial recognition software.
The technology took years to develop and uses an efficient library of data built on the C++ programming language to analyze a human face. SHORE could superimpose information on the subject you're speaking to next to their face, helping you figure out if they're happy, sad, male or female.
The company wants the app to be a communication tool, used by people, for example, on the autism spectrum who may have difficulty pinpointing emotions. Fraunhofer also said the app could be applied to market analyses and commercial uses. Since Google approved Glass apps, they have been exploring using Google Glass to help people with developmental differences.
The SHORE app is not available for download and it's not clear if Fraunhofer has built it into a soon-to-be-available app, or if the company is waiting to pair the technology with an app partner. The SHORE app charts a path through privacy concerns of facial recognition so that it can still be used to help people who could benefit from it.
