Kia Motors to Reveal Emotion Recognition Technology at CES

Kia Motors is planning to offer a preview of its emotion recognition technology at the upcoming 2019 Consumer Electronics Show, which will be held in January. The emotion recognition tool involves the use of an AI-based emotion detector and will be showcased using a ‘Space of Emotive Driving’ exhibit at Kia’s booth during the show.

The exhibit will preview a future in which almost all the cars on the road will be autonomous and focus will be on improving the experience of vehicle occupants. Kia’s new Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving (R.E.A.D.) System is the first such technology in the world and is the outcome of Kia’s research collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab’s Affective Computing group.

The READ System can be used to optimize and personalize a vehicle’s cabin. It uses artificial intelligence-based bio-signal recognition technology to analyze a driver’s emotional state such as if they are angry or happy in real-time. Based on their emotion at the moment, it then tailors the vehicle’s interior in order to create a better mobility experience for vehicle occupants.

Albert Biermann, President and Head of Research & Development Division of Kia Motors, said, “We have developed R.E.A.D. System to create an interactive future mobility in-cabin space by converging cutting edge vehicle control technology and AI-based emotional intelligence. Consequently, R.E.A.D. System will enable continuous communication between drivers and vehicles through the unspoken language of ‘emotional feeling’, thereby providing an optimized human senses-oriented space for drivers in real-time.”

Kia is not the only company that has attempted to develop technology to detect the emotions of vehicle occupants. Two other companies that have tried to do this are another group that initially started out in MIT’s Media Lab, Boston-based Affectiva and Silicon Valley-based startup Eyeris. Both are involved in the development of “vision A.I.” products for monitoring drivers and improving the rider experience.

Kia’s exhibit at CES will also highlight other advanced in-car and mobility technologies inspired by the brand’s ‘emotive driving’ concept, and more details of these technologies will be announced before the show.
Kia plans to operate 15-minute ‘Docent Tours’ at regular intervals throughout the show and they will give visitors to CES attendees greater understanding of the new technologies on display at the Kia booth.