Is FaceReader an Applicable Tool to Measure Facial Expressions? A comparison between FaceReader and Facial EMG.

Abstract

The present study researched if the facial expressions could be measured effectively by FaceReader Noldus software by comparing FaceReader and facial EMG. Participants watched 4 different movie clips evoking 3 different emotions; sadness, disgust, fear and one neutral movie clip. Participants watched each movie clip for 5 times in a randomized order while they had measurement instruments for EMG on their faces and the camera was recording their faces for FaceReader. They answered VAS questions at the end of the experiment which included ranking the emotions they felt on a scale from 0 to 10, during the first time and the fifth time they watched each movie clip. VAS gave us the opportunity to analyze the emotions the participants thought they felt, apart from what had been measured from their facial expressions and if the outcome was consistent with FaceReader and EMG. A comparison had been done between the facial expressions of participants during the first time and the last time they watched the movie clips to analyze the habituation effect. The outcome suggested that there was a significant difference between the FaceReader and EMG’s outcome. In contrast to VAS outcome, FaceReader’ s measurement suggested that there was not a significant difference between the first time and the fifth time the participants watched the videos. Further improvements and researches are needed before being able to state that FaceReader could be used in clinical practice.