The use of this technology is an extremely valuable thing. A computer can tell how you are feeling just by your facial expressions. A computer can know how to change what you are seeing if it detects that you are not interested, confused, or unhappy with what you see on the screen.

Knowing how to keep someone interested with what they are doing is a huge challenge. Sometimes people get bored with what they are doing and don't want to do it anymore. The computer could tell that you are getting bored and will try a variety of things until they find one that you are interested in. For example " If you smile when a Web ad appears on your screen, a similar ad might follow. But if you frown, the next ad wil be different" (Paragraph 6).

A computer can also tell when a person is becoming confused with what they are learning. The computer can detect the confusion and change the lesson to make it easier to understand. For example, " A classroom computer could recognize when a student is becoming confused or bored," Dr. Huang predicts. "Then it could modify the lesson, like an effective human instructor" (Paragraph 6). Not only does it make it easier for that student to better understand the lesson, but it makes it easier for the teacher too. The teacher wouldn't be able to detect exactly how the student is feeling with what they have, and ocasionally the students don't feel comfortable enough to let the teachers know.

Computers may have a code that help identify the facial expressions, but some humans don't really show much facial expression on how they are feeling. For example, "" Most human communication is nonverbal, including emotional communication," notes Dr. Huang. "So computers need to understand that, too" (Paragraph 6). However, humans who do not show a great amount of facial expressions can still show a slight amount, which would be enough for the computer to detect. It can also detect when you are showing false facial expressions because they are more strained than genuine. For example, " It's all about those muscular action units. They even indicate the difference between a genuine smile and a forced one. In the real smile, the zygomatic major (muscles that begin at you cheek bones) lift the corners of your mouth" (Paragraph 7). It can also figure out if it's a genuine smile by looking for crow's-feet, which are wrinkles around the corners of your eyes.

The important message here is that computers being able to identify the facial expressions on a human face is an extremely valuable thing to have in classrooms. It can detect boredom, confusion, and unhappiness. There may still be things that need working on with recognizing the emotions because there are stoic people, but overall it could be a great help to a student and teacher in a classroom. 