Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing computers that will be able to read their users’ minds. MIT’s Media Lab are experimenting with software that can sense emotional states such as boredom, anxiety, confusion and interest, and is likely to be eventually applied to CD players and VCR machines. The lab eventually wants to see VCRs that can tell if the viewer is bored and will forward to more exciting parts of a film, and CD players that will play music according to the mood of their user. The computer systems use biorhythmic sensors, which are attached to the users’ body and small cameras that monitor facial expressions. The systems are a long way from being commercially viable and the Media Lab says it is not trying to develop systems that will control people’s lives, but ones that will enhance quality of life.
