Nowadays, robots can do almost anything- the one thing they are lacking is the ability to read facial expressions.  Well, that just might be changing.

Science has been progressing on robot’s ability to express facial expressions of emotions but recognizing them is an entirely different trial.  Researchers from the University of Tsukuba, Japan have created a method of teaching robots via facial expressions.

Young children learn about social norms and a large part of acceptable behaviors through nonverbal communication and the environment around them.  They also learn if something is accepted or rejected through simple expressions such as a smile or a frown.  Researchers are hoping to apply the same ideology to a robot and influence its actions using the very same methods.

The Verge reports that this new technology uses wireless electromyography (EMG) head band, which can accurately read smiles and frowns 97 percent of the time.

Does that sound too good to be true?

Check out the video below and decide for yourself as a scientist and a robot interact via facial expressions a frown or a smile to be exact.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now there is another reason to keep that blood pressure in check.  New research suggests that high blood pressure can lead to an inability to recognize and process emotions especially happiness, sadness, anger and fear.

A recent study conducted by Clemson University psychology professor James A. McCubbin and colleagues has shown that people with higher blood pressure have reduced ability to recognize certain emotions in others.

This can prove difficult in situations where reading other’s facial expressions are crucial such as at work or in meetings.

“Emotional Dampening”  as McCubbin has dubbed it, causes individuals to  respond inappropriately to anger or other emotions in others.

McCubbin believes that the link between dampening of emotions and blood pressure is its involvement  in the development of hypertension and risk for coronary heart disease, the biggest killer of both men and women in the U.S.

An interesting finding of this study is that McCubbin’s theory of emotional dampening applies to positive emotions as well.  “If you have emotional dampening, you may distrust others because you cannot read emotional meaning in their face or their verbal communications,” he said. “You may even take more risks because you cannot fully appraise threats in the environment.”

Do you think this preliminary research needs to be ongoing before making such conclusions? Or Do you fully agree perhaps because you know someone or are that someone who has high blood pressure and who shows signs of  “emotional dampening”?