New Release: FaceReader™5.0 – software for automatic facial expression analysis.

Nov. 29, 2012 - PRLog -- Wageningen, The Netherlands, 26 November 2012 –   At Noldus development never stops. During the past five years, FaceReader has matured into a reliable and robust software product used by over 250 researchers worldwide. Since this ground breaking technology is being used by more and more practitioners in many different industries, it was the logical choice to develop FaceReader further into an easy-to-use, effective and efficient analysis tool – but still delivering the expected high-quality data output and results.

Innovate and automate research
Using the FaceReader technology, it is easy to gather accurate, objective, and detailed information about the facial expressions of test participants and combine their analysis results. The FaceReader Project Analysis Module allows for extensive analysis; you can summarize all emotions from female test participants or calculate the average emotional response to a commercial in just a few seconds. This software is used in a wide range of research disciplines including Market Research, Consumer Behavior Studies, Psychology, Usability Testing, Educational Research, and Human-Computer Interaction.  

What is new?
   Complete solution. Quick and smart advanced analysis and reporting using the Project Analysis Module. This new module allows for the combination and analysis of responses of multiple participants. It also allows the user to add a stimulus video to the project meaning that this user can see exactly what triggered an emotional response and adjust the analysis filters accordingly. Furthermore, when using this module, interesting events can be easily marked. Mark for example ‘distracted’, ‘talking’, or ‘parent entering the room’. Choose what to mark - whatever is interesting to know when analyzing the emotional responses of test participants.
   Improved face modeling and expression analysis. Not only is FaceReader now able to better cope with irregular lighting, but further improvements include a better general face model and expression analysis (over 10.000 pictures used to train expression analysis).
   Record a video of the test participant during a live analysis. When doing a live analysis, a video can be recorded. Simply command FaceReader to record video. No other program needed.
   Enhanced API. An Application Programming Interface (API) serves as an interface between FaceReader and other programs, allowing these programs to react instantly to emotions. It is now possible to send out more data such as event markers. The software is also capable of receiving information. Configure an experiment for example, in gaming research - when a test participant shows severe anger, a cooling down session in a game level starts automatically. Or, in market research, is your test participant smiling? By using the API, a questionnaire will be activated automatically. Then show the entire range of advertisements and keep measuring emotions.



Universal expressions
FaceReader is developed for the recognition of several specific properties in facial images, including the universal expressions: happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, and disgusted. Besides these 6 basic facial expressions, FaceReader also automatically identifies mouth open-closed, eyes open-shut, eyebrows raised-neutral-lowered, analyzes head orientation, and provides a real-time summary of emotions. Facereading is an art – FaceReader is the science.

About Noldus
Noldus Information Technology develops, markets, and supports professional software and instrumentation for human behavior research. These products enable the collection, analysis, management, and presentation of behavioral data. Scientists in more than 85 countries use them to study behavioral processes, automate experiments, and improve the quality and efficiency of their research. Noldus has offices across Europe, North America and China and is represented by a worldwide network of distributors.

Press contact
Sandra Thoomes-Wildschut
Noldus Information Technology BV
Postbus 268, 6700 AG Wageningen, The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 317 47 33 00
E-mail: s.wildschut@noldus.nl