The technology behind an attractive maths teaching avatar could one day be used to detect cancer, dispense health advice and single out serious shoppers in stores. The ‘Easy with Eve’ avatar, developed to teach maths to primary school students, uses complex algorithms to detect and respond to expressions and movements. Researchers said that technology had myriad applications. For example, a Unitec/China Medical University project was investigating the technology's potential to detect cancer cells.
The Chinese Government had put $180,000 towards the initiative and a provincial government had donated $10,000. Researchers at Massey University and Unitec were also working together to turn Eve into an intelligent sales assistant that would use customers' facial expressions and gestures captured on a camera to distinguish between serious shoppers and those just browsing. Also, the motion detection technology could be used to help monitor the elderly in their homes – alerting ambulance services if any sudden or unusual movements were detected.
More information:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/4474915/Virtual-girl-can-read-nine-emotions/
More information:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/4474915/Virtual-girl-can-read-nine-emotions/