Punjabi University, Patiala, develops techniques to recognise facial expressions

Patiala, November 26

Through research by Naveen Kumari under the supervision of Prof Rekha Bhatia, the Department of Computer Science at Punjabi University, an effective technique to identify real expressions in facial images has been developed.

Prof Rekha Bhatia said, “Facial expressions are a form of non-verbal communication and reflect a person’s inner thoughts, behaviour and mental states.”

Prof Rekha, “Facial expression plays a big role in judging the emotions of an individual.” She said this technology was useful in many fields, such as healthcare, teaching, criminal investigation and human-robot interfaces among others.

The professor said the applications that were available now had their own set of challenges. “The main goal of the technology brought through the research is to overcome these challenges in terms of identifying human emotions such as happiness, sadness, surprise and fear among others,” she said.

The professor said the proposed technology had several unique applications that could contribute to make the world a better place. “Sales, monitoring and product design are examples that may have a potential usage of this technology. This study could have a positive impact in areas such as healthcare and online education as well,” she said.

Punjabi University Vice Chancellor Arvind congratulated the researcher, supervisor and the department concerned for the research.