Emotional AI Makes Your Car Really Know How You Feel

Imagine if your car could pull itself over when you're drowsy or nauseous, or adjust the temperature and music when gridlock is stressing you out. Maybe it could even refuse to start if it knows you're intoxicated. With advanced ADAS systems already in place and the days of autonomous vehicles on the horizon, a lot of work is being done around sensing and machine learning to help vehicles better understand the roads and the world around them. But Boston-based startup Affectiva thinks more needs to be done around the internal world of the car--specifically the emotional state of the driver. Affectiva has built its business model around creating "emotional AI," algorithms capable of recognizing human emotional states.