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Traditionally, emoticons have been the best way to convey one’s emotion over the cold, hard form of communication that is text messaging. Now, Research In Motion (RIM) wants to inject a bit of feeling into your messages through some unorthodox means.
(Credit: USPTO)
A patent application, filed by RIM, details a method of translating emotions from the text you enter in a message, changing the way it is presented to the recipient. We’re thinking the phone would translate a fairly passive-aggressive regular text message into all capital letters with glowing red text — just to emphasise how cross you really are.
The technique is not simply based on parsing text, as it also describes the use of biometric sensors, like an accelerometer or a Galvanic skin sensor that captures your heart rate and blood pressure. It also mentions how a front-facing camera could be used to read your face while texting, and then use this information to infer how you’re feeling.
Engadget picked up on the patent application, though it was initially filed in January 2011.
