A preliminary investigation towards the application of facial expression analysis to enable an emotion-aware car interface

The paper describes the conceptual model of an emotion-aware car interface able to: map both the driver’s cognitive and emotional states with the vehicle dynamics; adapt the level of automation or support the decision-making process if emotions negatively affecting the driving performance are detected; ensure emotion regulation and provide a unique user experience creating a more engaging atmosphere (e.g. music, LED lighting) in the car cabin. To enable emotion detection, it implements a low-cost emotion recognition able to recognize Ekman’s universal emotions by analyzing the driver’s facial expression from stream video. A preliminary test was conducted in order to determine the effectiveness of the proposed emotion recognition system in a driving context. Results evidenced that the proposed system is capable to correctly qualify the drivers’ emotion in a driving simulation context.