Software reads candidates’ faces - Prof. Chris Kowal applies FaceReader to political candidates. Go directly to CNN.com to view the video.

Basic emotions, represented by facial expressions, are not conscious and can thus deliver great information about subconscious processes. What did Prof. Chris Kowal measure on Romney's face? Which emotions did he measure on Obama’s face?

Non-verbal behavior is very important in analyzing interpersonal communication. Think about waiving your arms when explaining something, nodding your head, or frowning. Facial expressions are an essential part of non-verbal communication. You can miss a lot of information if you don’t pay attention to non-verbal cues. Researchers worldwide measure emotions by using FaceReader, software that automatically classifies facial expressions.

Facial recognition software is used to automatically detect and analyze facial expressions (six basic emotions). By using this software, facial expressions are classified directly in one of the following categories: happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, disgusted, and neutral. These emotional categories have been described by Ekman (1970) as the basic or universal emotions. Facial expressions can vary in intensity and are often a mixture of emotions. Learn more by downloading the free white paper about FaceReader methodology.