The future of emotions: Can you feel me now?
The last post covered Scenario 1: Emotions at your service! My take on present day sentiment-sending companies and the future of emotion-giving. While last week’s post used a diegetic business to tell a fictional story of the future, this week’s post proposes how various technologies may transform functional data into sensitive data.
For a brief overview of the underlying trends and emerging issues that help shape this scenario, go here.
Quick re-cap of the 3-horizons framework
H1 represents where we are currently. It may include elements of the future. H2 suggests a transitional scenario. While H3 is the most far-reaching vision: what might the year 2047 look like? The x-axis represents time, while the y-axis represents how well a given technology fits within the needs of a certain time.
Scenario 2 | Can you feel me now?
Focus: Technology
Most of us consider emotions to be a distinctly human expression. It separates us from Alexa or Siri. But emotions may not be exclusive to mammals for much longer. Before we can have data with sensitivity or machines that anticipate our needs, we’ve got to have the data input and interface between human and machine.
The Blood, Sweat and Tears of Emotions: Biometrics
One way to currently get data from humans to machines is through wearables (Horizon 1.) Wearables can be effective at identifying valence: attraction or aversion, arousal and control through various biometrics such as heart rate and electrodermal activity. Thirty years from now, we won’t forget our Fitbit wristband on the kitchen table because the technology will be embedded in our bodies, clothing and accessories.
The subdermal technology will not just be interpreting your spouses’ facial expressions or your tone of voice, but also anticipating your anxiety about how you incorrectly programmed the car to pick up your kid at 4pm instead of 3pm. Even though you might initially feel defensive towards your exasperated spouse, the technology will suggest a response that acknowledges their concern and offers a reasonable remedy. After a quarrel is avoided, you see the wisdom in the approach that was offered to you. “Humans often struggle with appropriate responses because of the complexity of emotions, so building technologies that could decipher accurately our ‘emotional code’ would be very impressive.”
I Don’t Feel You, but I’m Getting There
An intermediate technology (Horizon 2) will exist before data and machines become emotionally sensitive. They will need input from humans, but won’t be able to create their own emotions. Some may fall into the uncanny valley because they are trying to emulate human emotions, but that will be avoided the closer we get to feeling machines.
For example, your jacket senses your stress and anxiety and will start massaging your back to soothe you after you witnessed a dog fight at the off-leash park. You tell the jacket to stop because you’re in public, and don’t want people seeing your jacket undulate across your back (serenity later!) In the preferred future, the technology will understand these complex emotions and scenarios and will wait until you’re in your self-driving car.
I Feel You
In Horizon 3, we will configure our technology based on the emotional code we are familiar with: our known strengths and unmanaged strengths, aka, weaknesses. Yet we will consult and collaborate with our technology to ask what they observe through our biometric data to establish optimal emotional settings. Technology asks us, “Bakari, I’ve noticed that you’ve been frustrated the last week. Your frustration is turning into forgetfulness. How about if I take care of menu planning with Morgan this week so you have some more time to work on the presentation?”
Or another example: We might ask our technology to use emotional manipulation to go beyond simple screen notifications to tap into our sense of shame to change our behavior. “What would your father think if he heard the kids were waiting for a ride, feeling abandoned, Bakari?” asks your cochlear implant. Whether you need a feelings coach or an emotional drill sergeant, the technology will be able to anticipate what mode is most helpful in particular scenarios.
Emotional Healing
In a hectic world that’s continually connected, having a technology that aids in your emotional health will be beneficial and essential. As recently as 2017, one could use an app called Happiness by Pebble (purchased and then shut down by Fitbit.) The app asks you to pay attention to your emotions, and stay aware of mood changes. Checking in with yourself can be emotionally grounding and clarifying. When data and machines become emotionally sensitive, the time you need for reflection or coaching will be there because it has learned your emotional code. It will give you space to just be. For people who thrive at a frenetic pace, it will identify and attune to that mode of living and working as well.
You Just Get Me
The ubiquity of sensors that make up the Internet of Things will be a key channel of input from human to machine. “Over time, all of these technologies will become increasingly interconnected and interdependent, giving rise to an ecosystem of emotionally aware services and devices. Software-as-a-Service and a range of affective apps will deliver these powerful capabilities to our smartphones and other devices. Drawing on the developing sensor-filled world known as the IoT, inputs of all manner will eventually act as additional eyes and ears, allowing these services to connect with and engage us almost anywhere.”
As IoT evolves, it too will learn to anticipate our emotional needs. Seeing that we just came out of a challenging meeting, it will set our office lighting to a calming setting, send a subtle scent and guide us through deep belly breathing so our blood pressure goes down. Or for those troubled with extreme emotions, it will help calm psychotic people before they have an episode, minimizing the need for heavy doses of antipsychotic drugs.
The future holds the prospect of feeling data and machines. The sensing technology will help people across the emotional spectrum based on their own individual needs. Privacy issues will certainly need to be solved. Subtle programming will be required to ensure the feeling machines avoid becoming an annoyance. Programmers from underrepresented groups will need to be creating algorithms. The algorithms will need to be trained within an environment that reflects where they will be operating.
Despite these significantly challenging considerations, there is a huge opportunity for technology to help humans with their emotions.
