Apple buys Artificial-Intelligence startup Emotient

BANGALORE: Apple has acquired Emotient, a startup with technology for recognizing emotions in people’s faces in video content, according to a report today. This is Apple’s latest in a series of recent acquisitions of companies well versed in artificial intelligence.

In reporting the deal, the Wall Street Journal did not say how much Apple paid for Emotient.

Emotient’s technology draws on deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence that involves training artificial neural networks on lots of data, such as video frames, and then directing it to make inferences about new data. This is a hot area where Flipboard, Snapchat, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Pinterest, and others have done work.

The technology is notable for its ability to work even in less than ideal conditions. The technology can work in a browser or through an application programming interface (API), according to the website.

Other recent Apple AI acquisitions include Perceptio and VocalIQ.