Social Engineering Blogs

An Aggregator for Blogs About Social Engineering and Related Fields

Face Changes

Slate.com has revealed some very interesting pictures of soldiers faces before, during and after their term of service.   They attempt to show how life changing situations are reflected in our faces and answer questions such as, Does tragedy truly show up in our eyes and brow?

Psychology Today has an interesting article that directly relates to Claire Felicie’s photographs, on the connection between looks and personality, which they purport play out on every face we see.

There is only a 12-month lapse between the first and last photos.  Pay particular attention to the faces in the last photo especially their eyes and mouths.  Even if you find that the wrinkles and marks are the same, comparing the left picture to the right there seems to be an undeniable difference, even if you cannot point to one thing specifically as the cause of that difference.

 To see all of the photos click here.

 What do you notice in these faces?  
Share your insights with the Humintell Community !

Facial Expression of Emotions Recognition in Real Time – Really ?

Omron, a Japanese automation company, has just developed technology that can detect six of the seven universal facial expressions of emotion (happiness, disgust, sadness, fear, surprise, and anger) in real time.

They already have software, “OKAO Vision”  that is currently used in the auto focus of digital cameras & smart phones.

In a past blog, we reported on this type of technology, which made its appearance in the video game L.A. Noire , which used motion scan technology to capture actors’ facial expressions from all angles.  This can now be upgraded to reflect your facial expressions and use them to create a personalized avatar reacting and responding realistically and in real time in various interactive video games.

 RTT News  reports that this new technology combines the company’s 3D model-fitting technology and its statistical classification method to estimate facial expressions based on the relative position of all facial parts.  The company also claims that the technology is capable of high-speed estimation that requires very little system memory.

Gamers everywhere rejoice technology is bringing many of you what you’ve always wanted…Realistic interactive software that puts you (at least your facial expressions)  in the Game.

 What do you think about this software?  Is it really realistic and in real time? Or does technology still need to perfect this software?
Let the Humintell Community know!

The Smell of Fear – New Research

We all know that babies learn about the people and world around them from watching and imitating what they see.  Well, apparently we continue this into adulthood.

A new study from researchers at Utrecht University finds that we can smell fear and disgust and when we do it can trigger the same emotion in our brains.  The study’s findings can be found in the journal Psychological Science.

The New York Daily News reports that this isn’t the first research to claim that humans can smell fear.  So how did they find this information out? 

Researchers tested the sweaty armpits of 10 men while they watched films such as The Shining or gross-out scenes from MTV’s television series Jackass.

They then asked 36 women to take a visual search test that recorded their facial expressions and eye movements as they inhaled  chemosignals of the men’s sweat.  So what did the researchers find? 

When sniffing the “fear sweat,” the women opened their eyes widely in a fearful expression.  When smelling sweat from men who were disgusted, the women grimaced as if in disgust.

 So Science is pointing to the fact that we are all connected and we affect the people around us in ways we did not previously know.  

So next time your in a crowded post office, waiting for important news in a room full of people, or in a classroom filled with rambunctious middle schoolers, try to calm yourself and bare a smile no matter how slight.

 Remember other’s can SMELL FEAR and it’s contagious !