SenseGlass: using google glass to sense daily emotions

For over a century, scientists have studied human emotions in laboratory settings. However, these emotions have been largely contrived -- elicited by movies or fake "lab" stimuli, which tend not to matter to the participants in the studies, at least not compared with events in their real life. This work explores the utility of Google Glass, a head-mounted wearable device, to enable fundamental advances in the creation of affect-based user interfaces in natural settings.Google (Firm)MIT Media Lab ConsortiumNational Science Foundation (U.S.). Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (NSF CCF-1029585

BioGlass: Physiological Parameter Estimation Using a Head-mounted Wearable Device

This work explores the feasibility of using sensors embedded in Google Glass, a head-mounted wearable device, to measure physiological signals of the wearer. In particular, we develop new methods to use Glass’s accelerometer, gyroscope, and camera to extract pulse and respiratory rates of 12 participants during a controlled experiment. We show it is possible to achieve a mean absolute error of 0.83 beats per minute (STD: 2.02) for heart rate and 1.18 breaths per minute (STD: 2.04) for respiration rate when considering different combinations of sensors. These results included testing across sitting, supine, and standing still postures before and after physical exercise

Mood Meter: Large-Scale and Long-Term Smile Monitoring System

Have you ever wondered whether it's possible to quantitatively measure how friendly or welcoming a community is? Or imagined which parts of the community are happier than others? In this work, we introduce a new technology that begins to address these questions

BioWatch: Estimation of Heart and Breathing Rates from Wrist Motions

Continued developments of sensor technology including hardware miniaturization and increased sensitivity have enabled the development of less intrusive methods to monitor physiological parameters during daily life. In this work, we present methods to recover cardiac and respiratory parameters using accelerometer and gyroscope sensors on the wrist. We demonstrate accurate measurements in a controlled laboratory study where participants (n = 12) held three different positions (standing up, sitting down and lying down) under relaxed and aroused conditions. In particular, we show it is possible to achieve a mean absolute error of 1.27 beats per minute (STD: 3.37) for heart rate and 0.38 breaths per minute (STD: 1.19) for breathing rate when comparing performance with FDA-cleared sensors. Furthermore, we show comparable performance with a state-of-the-art wrist-worn heart rate monitor, and when monitoring heart rate of three individuals during two consecutive nights of in-situ sleep measurements.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CCF-1029585)Samsung (Firm). Think Tank TeamMIT Media Lab Consortiu

BioInsights: Extracting personal data from "Still" wearable motion sensors

During recent years a large variety of wearable devices have become commercially available. As these devices are in close contact with the body, they have the potential to capture sensitive and unexpected personal data even when the wearer is not moving. This work demonstrates that wearable motion sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes embedded in head-mounted and wrist-worn wearable devices can be used to identify the wearer (among 12 participants) and his/her body posture (among 3 positions) from only 10 seconds of “still” motion data. Instead of focusing on large and apparent motions such as steps or gait, the proposed methods amplify and analyze very subtle body motions associated with the beating of the heart. Our findings have the potential to increase the value of pervasive wearable motion sensors but also raise important privacy concerns that need to be considered.National Science Foundation (U.S.). (CCF-1029585

Mood meter: counting smiles in the wild

In this study, we created and evaluated a computer vision based system that automatically encouraged, recognized and counted smiles on a college campus. During a ten-week installation, passersby were able to interact with the system at four public locations. The aggregated data was displayed in real time in various intuitive and interactive formats on a public website. We found privacy to be one of the main design constraints, and transparency to be the best strategy to gain participants' acceptance. In a survey (with 300 responses), participants reported that the system made them smile more than they expected, and it made them and others around them feel momentarily better. Quantitative analysis of the interactions revealed periodic patterns (e.g., more smiles during the weekends) and strong correlation with campus events (e.g., fewer smiles during exams, most smiles the day after graduation), reflecting the emotional responses of a large community.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Council for the ArtsCaja Madrid (Fellowship)Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Festival of Art, Science, and Technology (FAST)

Multimodal annotation tool for challenging behaviors in people with Autism spectrum disorders

Individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often have challenging behaviors (CB's), such as self-injury or emotional outbursts, which can negatively impact the quality of life of themselves and those around them. Recent advances in mobile and ubiquitous technologies provide an opportunity to efficiently and accurately capture important information preceding and associated with these CB's. The ability to obtain this type of data will help with both intervention and behavioral phenotyping efforts. Through collaboration with behavioral scientists and therapists, we identified relevant design requirements and created an easy-to-use mobile application for collecting, labeling, and sharing in-situ behavior data in individuals diagnosed with ASD. Furthermore, we have released the application to the community as an open-source project so it can be validated and extended by other researchers.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant NSF CCF-1029585)MIT Media Lab ConsortiumAutism Speaks (Organization) (Innovative Technology for Autism Initiative Grant

AutoEmotive: bringing empathy to the driving experience to manage stress

With recent developments in sensing technologies, it's becoming feasible to comfortably measure several aspects of emotions during challenging daily life situations. This work describes how the stress of drivers can be measured through different types of interactions, and how the information can enable several interactions in the car with the goal of helping to manage stress. These new interactions could help not only to bring empathy to the driving experience but also to improve driver safety and increase social awareness.MIT Media Lab ConsortiumNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant No. NSF CCF- 1029585

Programmed death-ligand (PD-L1), epidermal growth factor (EGF), relaxin and metalloproteinase-3 (MMP3), potential biomarkers of malignancy in canine mammary neoplasia

Gene expression has been suggested as a putative tool for prognosis and diagnosis in canine mammary neoplasia (CMNs). In the present study, 58 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) paraffined canine mammary neoplasias from 27 different bitches were included. Thirty-seven tumours were classified as benign, whereas thirty-one were classified as different types of canine carcinoma. In addition, mammary samples from three healthy bitches were also included. The gene expression for vascular endothelial growth factor-α (VEGFα), CD20, progesterone receptor (PGR), hyaluronidase-1 (HYAL-1), programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), epidermal growth factor (EGF), relaxin (RLN2), and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP3) was assessed through RT-qPCR. All the assessed genes yielded a higher expression in neoplastic mammary tissue than in healthy tissue. All the evaluated genes were overexpressed in neoplastic mammary tissue, suggesting a role in the process of tumorigenesis. Moreover, PD-L1, EGF, relaxin, and MMP3 were significantly overexpressed in malignant CMNs compared to benign CMNs, suggesting they may be useful as malignancy biomarkers

Prevalence estimation of significant fibrosis because of NASH in Spain combining transient elastography and histology

Hepatic fibrosis; Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; Transient elastographyFibrosis hepática; Esteatohepatitis no alcohólica; Elastografía transitoriaFibrosi hepàtica; Esteatohepatitis no alcohòlica; Elastografia transitòriaBackground & Aims Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a major public health problem, but the prevalence of fibrosis associated with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is largely unknown in the general population. This study aimed to provide an updated estimation of the prevalence of NASH fibrosis in Spain. Methods This was an observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, population-based study with merged data from two Spanish datasets: a large (N = 12 246) population-based cohort (ETHON), including transient elastography (TE) data, and a contemporary multi-centric biopsy-proven NASH cohort with paired TE data from tertiary centres (N = 501). Prevalence for each NASH fibrosis stage was estimated by crossing TE data from ETHON dataset with histology data from the biopsy-proven cohort. Results From the patients with valid TE in ETHON dataset (N = 11 440), 5.61% (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 2.53-11.97) had a liver stiffness measurement (LSM) ≥ 8 kPa. The proportion attributable to NAFLD (using clinical variables and Controlled Attenuation Parameter) was 57.3% and thus, the estimated prevalence of population with LSM ≥ 8 kPa because of NAFLD was 3.21% (95% CI 1.13–8.75). In the biopsy-proven NASH cohort, 389 patients had LSM ≥ 8 kPa. Among these, 37% did not have significant fibrosis (F2-4). The estimated prevalence of NASH F2-3 and cirrhosis in Spain's adult population were 1.33% (95% CI 0.29–5.98) and 0.70% (95% CI 0.10–4.95) respectively. Conclusions These estimations provide an accurate picture of the current prevalence of NASH-related fibrosis in Spain and can serve as reference point for dimensioning the therapeutic efforts that will be required as NASH therapies become available