Is the Mona Lisa smiling? There seems to be little doubt that we can learn a great deal through artwork, and a recent study on Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa painting can help shed light on our facial expression recognition skills, as well. This painting has long intrigued viewers, presenting an ambiguous facial expression…
Read MoreCan We Learn Empathy from Robots?
Many people familiar with science fiction tend to have an ingrained fear and repulsion at what are seen as cold and unfeeling robots. The idea of widespread artificial intelligence brings to mind terrifying visions from films such as The Terminator or The Matrix, both of which present an apocalyptic future where artificial intelligence turns on…
Read MoreEmpathy and Facial Expressions
Do you think you’re good at reading other people’s facial expressions? You might be surprised! While facial expressions provide a key insight into the emotions of other individuals, empathy may be even more important for laypeople to understand the emotions of fellow humans. In a new study, Dr. Haotian Zhou from Shanghai Tech University and…
Read MoreReading Those Puppy Dog Eyes
While we have often discussed how universal emotional expressions are, emerging research is expanding this universality even beyond our own species! A recent 2017 study from the University of Helsinki sought to better understand how humans recognize emotions and facial expressions in dogs. The study found that, not only can humans effectively read canine expressions,…
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