Professor Uses Facial Recognition To Detect Bored Students

In order to help determine the level of interest in his classes, one Chinese University professor [...]

facialrecognition
(Photo: West China Metropolis Daily)

In order to help determine the level of interest in his classes, one Chinese University professor is using facial-recognition technology to detect his students' boredom.

The lecturer, Wei Xiaoyong, works at Sichuan University in the south-western city of Chengdu and developed the new "face reader" to identify emotions that can suggest whether a student is bored or stimulated.

The innovative technology produces results on a "curve" which displays the levels to which a student is either "happy" or "neutral." The data is able to interpret whether they are bored, Wei claims.

Professor Wei told The Telegraph, "When we correlate that kind of information to the way we teach, and we use a timeline, then you will know where you are actually attracting the students' attention."

He continued, "Then you can ask whether this is a good way to teach that content? Or if this content is OK for the students in that class?"

Wei first implemented the facial recognition technology in order to take the daily register of attendance, according to The Telegraph. He wanted to find a less "boring or time-consuming" method for seeing which students were present instead of just doing the roll call.

While the technology is not guaranteed to be completely effective, several friends and colleagues of Professor Wei's who teach at different universities across China have implemented the facial recognition tool for calling roll. Now, Wei hopes that his most recent work on the "emotion-analyzing proto-type" will be adopted by more professors and Universities.

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(Photo: West China Metropolis Daily)

Do you think facial-recognition technology could revolutionize the way professors and instructors across the world teach their students?

[H/T Telegraph, Engadget]

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