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Please read the following article: A Technology That RevealsYour Feelings

Memo to students: Think you can fool your teacher when you'renot paying attention? Think again. In the not-too-distant future, alaptop flashing a graph tracking classroom attention in real timecould give you away. By the end of 2015, as many as 1,000 schoolsin the U.S. and Canada could be using a technology that monitorsstudents, says Rich Cheston, chief solutions officer at Stoneware,a Lenovo unit that makes classroom management software. Stonewarewill soon incorporate emotions analytics into one of its productsto track attention in the classroom. A cousin of facialrecognition, emotions analytics relies on video of facialexpressions. The teachers "can see it as they are teaching, so theycan determine when to take corrective action," Cheston says. Hisproduct will come out in September, and then he will startmarketing it to schools. Over the past few years, big companies,including Unilever and Coca-Cola, have used emotions analytics tobetter understand customers' likes and dislikes and to tailormarketing and advertising campaigns. About a dozen companies aremaking and supporting such software, according to researcher CroneConsulting. The market leaders include Emotient, a startup in SanDiego, and Affectiva in Waltham, Mass. Unilever relies onAffectiva's emotions analysis to assess customer reactions to itsads. Emotient's software will be used in Stoneware's classroomproduct. And Emotient tested its software with the NBA's GoldenState Warriors to study how spectators respond to activities suchas a dance cam. The market for emotion-analyzing software couldreach $10 billion worldwide in five years, up from more than $100million in 2016 and less than $20 million this year, CroneConsulting says.

The software, which can be used in PCs, cars (to alert driverswhen they get distracted), and smartphones, works with live orrecorded video of facial expressions. How the different companies'products work varies. Affectiva's software homes in on points on aface, such as the comers of eyes or eyebrows. Algorithms alsodetect texture variations that occur when people laugh, frown, orsmirk. Accessing its database of 3 .2 million face videos,Affectiva says it can identify facial expressions and emotions withhigh accuracy. Its software processes video footage frame by frameto report the various emotional states of a user, from happiness tosadness, or from surprised to unfazed. It tests itsemotion-recognition algorithms against images in its database."This is a passive way of not asking someone a question but simplyobserving their emotional response," says Nicholas Langeveld,Affectiva's chief executive officer. Affectiva says its analysishas a 90 percentplus accuracy rate for some emotions. StartupBeyond Verbal, founded three years ago in Tel Aviv, has a databaseof 1.5 million voices. The company analyzes vocal intonations toidentify more than 300 mood variants in more than 40 languages with80 percent accuracy.

Susan Etlinger a data intelligence analyst at brand consultantAltimeter Group says the software needs to be proven. "How can youverify whether someone was actually feeling joy or anger at theparticular moment?" she asks. There also are ethicalconsiderations, because those being studied may not know it, shesays. The field of facial-emotions analytics dates to the 1970s andthe work of American psychologist Paul Ekman. "I thought it wasgoing to be used in research," says Ekman, who along with severalcolleagues developed a way to measure facial movements. Emotienthas adapted his system. Ekman says he worries that some of thetechnology's uses could infringe on privacy rights. After hethreatened to resign from Emotient's board, where he's an adviser,Ekman said the company is now addressing his concerns. Microsofthas developed prototype consumer apps that track emotions via askin sensor on an activity band and a heart-rate monitor. Theyalert users when stress levels are high and offer tips for copingwith the stress. Some employees in the research division developingthe apps share their emotions through desk crystals, which changecolor when users are sad, happy, stressed, or bored. "Yourcolleague could help you out, make you feel better," says MaryCzerwinski, a research manager at Microsoft. "But as soon as one oftheir bosses came in, they covered it up."

Write a 500 Word document responding to the followingquestions:

Facial-emotions analytics technology’s use could infringe onprivacy rights. As an operations management consultant, what wouldyou suggest to respect privacy and ensure the success of thistechnology?

Emotion analyzing software that works with live or recordedvideo of facial expressions can be used in PCs, cars (to alertdrivers when they get distracted), and smartphones. How thedifferent companies’ products work varies. From an operationsmanagement perspective, discuss the pros and cons as you compareand contrast the approaches used by Affectiva, Emotient, andStoneware.