The possibility of interacting with an AI that is as responsive and contextually appropriate emotionally as well as practically as Iron Man’s J.A.R.V.I.S. may soon come to fruition as Microsoft has just filed a patent for a more emotionally aware AI program that can dole out personalized responses instead of the current, more robotic forms as we are used to hearing.
Digital Trends reports that Microsoft is at the forefront of bringing together this technology and had filed this patent back in 2015 with the title “Emotionally Connected Responses from a Digital Assistant.” This means that the AI can respond to tasks, calendar schedules, invites, reminders and other information in a more contextually appropriate manner. The patent describes the technology as having a unique personality of its own where the AI uses different means of increasing its connection to its user.
Microsoft supposedly has two distinct ways of providing responses. In the event of a spontaneous interaction with a user who says things like “I love you”, a personalized message will be played out for the user. For when there are pre-determined events, the AI has various reactions and will acknowledge the event in its own way. In fact, Microsoft is not the only company doing this. Even Amazon is jumping on the bandwagon and is working on improving Alexa’s emotional compatibility, even developing certain responses to the most ambiguous requests; those that AI of today cannot currently process or respond to.
In the meanwhile, Google instead is focusing on programming the Google Assistant with more character, providing the AI with a relatable childhood and also give it a humorous personality to make it sound more “conversational”. It seems like different companies are taking different routes to make their AI more engaging.
Microsoft’s tryst with emotions doesn’t just stop there. The company has also filed a patent for smart glasses that can sense the emotions of the people around the wearer, based on just body language and other indicators such as poses, posture and other inputs that the glasses will read.
According to the Daily Mail, there is also a mood shirt that Microsoft is supposedly developing that can sense the mood of the wearer and based on the heart-rate, the temperature and the body movements, will control the garment’s temperature and air pressure. Essentially, the garment is meant for those of us who want to feel comfortable in certain situations when there is no one around to do that comforting.
It seems like Microsoft is working on quite a few emotional devices and gadgets and wants to make the world a safer place for the emotionally secure and insecure. While the ideas may seem a little farfetched, the applications of these devices, in the right kind of environment, would one day have its uses.
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