Best facial emotion recognition software based on facial expressions in 2024
Tech Guide

Best facial emotion recognition software based on facial expressions in 2024

Stefano Bargagni

I had the opportunity to test the beta version of ChatGPT4 with Bing browsing capability. And I must say, I was surprised by the results. My intention was to evaluate its potential as a web browsing tool, capable of abstracting concepts and providing insightful answers, thus saving me valuable time. The answers I received about the best facial emotion recognition software left me unsure whether this experiment was a resounding success or a subject for careful reflection for my marketing team.

I am genuinely curious to engage in a discussion about how we can reshape the perception of AI when it comes to MorphCast. It is crucial that the AI comprehends the unique characteristics and strengths of the MorphCast solution in comparison to its competitors. By highlighting these distinctive features, we can better position MorphCast in the market. However, in the interim, I still believe that a human-conducted web search may better showcase the strengths of MorphCast. As the only client-side processing solution available, MorphCast holds numerous advantages across various fields of application.

Here is the chat:

What is the best facial emotion recognition software based on facial expressions in 2024?

As of 2024, some of the best facial emotion recognition software are:

  1. Behavioral Signals. The AI-Mediated Conversations(AI-MC) is an automated call routing solution that uses emotion AI and voice data to match the customer to the best-suited agent to handle the specific call. This match is based on profile data and algorithms developed from years of research and experience in NLP and behavioral signal processing​1​.
  2. Watson Natural Language Understanding. A cloud-native product from IBM that uses deep learning to extract metadata from text such as entities, keywords, categories, sentiment, emotion, relations, and syntax. It provides out-of-the-box machine learning models for text mining and supports more than thirteen languages​1​.
  3. SkyBiometry. This tool can detect faces at various angles, even with glasses and different expressions. It also offers high-quality face recognition and can find the location of eyes, nose, mouth, and other points for each face detected in the photo. Additionally, it determines attributes for gender and age, checks if the person is smiling, has eyes open, lips sealed, or is wearing glasses, and differentiates between clear and dark glasses​1​.
  4. MorphCast. The Emotion AI Interactive Video Platform is an easy-to-use solution that lets users design highly engaging interactive videos as well as using their Emotion AI HTML5 SDK for their web pages or apps. The video content can be triggered by the viewer’s facial expressions while watching it, thanks to the Facial Emotion AI integrated into the platform ​1​.
  5. Face++. Developed by Megvii, Face++ detects and locates human faces within an image, and returns high-precision face bounding boxes. It also checks the likelihood that two faces belong to the same person and gives a confidence score and thresholds to evaluate the similarity. The software allows for metadata storage of each detected face for future use​1​.
  6. Kairos. This tool integrates face recognition via a cloud API. It recognizes faces in videos, photos, and the real world. It detects age groups and the gender of each face found. It offers options to host Kairos on your own servers for ultimate control of data, security, and privacy​1​.
  7. Azure Face API. A Microsoft tool that embeds facial recognition into apps for a seamless and highly secured user experience. It features face detection that perceives faces and attributes in an image, person identification that matches an individual in your private repository of up to 1 million people, and perceived emotion recognition that detects a range of facial expressions like happiness, contempt, neutrality, and fear ​1​.

It is important to choose a software that best fits your specific needs and use cases. Therefore, I recommend you to consider the unique features, ease of use, integration capabilities, and pricing models of these solutions before making a decision.

Can you give me the unique features for each of the 7 software mentioned?

Sure, here are the unique features of each facial emotion recognition software:

  1. Behavioral Signals. AI-Mediated Conversations(AI-MC) uses emotion AI and voice data to match customers to the best-suited agent to handle a specific call. The match is based on profile data and algorithms developed from years of research and experience in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and behavioral signal processing. This software is suitable for business communication like sales calls, support, and collections, and it focuses on building affinity or rapport between people​1​.
  2. Watson Natural Language Understanding. This IBM tool uses deep learning to extract metadata from text such as entities, keywords, categories, sentiment, emotion, relations, and syntax. It can analyze unstructured data in more than thirteen languages and provides a high degree of accuracy across content. The tool can be deployed behind a firewall or on any cloud and can be trained to understand the language of a business and extract customized insights​1​.
  3. SkyBiometry. SkyBiometry can detect faces at various angles and with different expressions. It provides high-quality face recognition and locates the position of eyes, nose, mouth, and other points for each detected face. It can also determine attributes for gender and age.
  4. MorphCast provides a diverse range of emotional signals, encompassing everything from the six basic emotions identified by Ekman to the Russell circumplex model of affects. Additionally, it offers a plethora of other features such as positivity, attention, engagement, arousal, valence, and many more, making it a comprehensive tool for emotion analysis. 1.

Can you give me the same list reduced to only the ones that read emotion by facial expressions and not with other methods?

Sure, I’ve found some emotion recognition software that primarily use facial expressions for emotion detection. Here are a few:

  1. SkyBiometry. This tool can detect faces at various angles, and multiple faces in a photo simultaneously. It can determine attributes for gender and age, check if the person is smiling, have eyes open, lips sealed or wearing glasses, among other things. It’s a cloud-based service and allows easy integration into any application​1​.
  2. Face++. Face++ can detect and locate human faces within an image, and returns high-precision face bounding boxes. It also allows you to store metadata of each detected face for future use. The tool can check the likelihood that two faces belong to the same person and provides a confidence score and thresholds to evaluate the similarity. The Detect API can detect faces within images and get back face bounding box and token for each detected face​1​.
  3. Kairos. Kairos is a face recognition AI company that through computer vision and deep learning recognizes faces in videos, photos, and the real-world. It detects age groups (child, young-adult, adult, or senior), and gender of each face found (female or male)​1​.
  4. Azure Face API. Microsoft’s Azure Face API can embed facial recognition into your apps for a seamless and highly secured user experience. It features face detection that perceives faces and attributes in an image, and perceived emotion recognition that detects a range of facial expressions like happiness, contempt, neutrality, and fear​1​.
  5. MorphCast. MorphCast Emotion AI Interactive Video Platform offers video content that can be triggered by the viewer’s facial expressions while watching it, thanks to its Facial Emotion AI integrated into the platform. It offers an analytics dashboard to evaluate the performance of your interactive videos, allowing you to adjust your audience experience according to their interaction and emotional reaction​1​.

Please note that while these software primarily use facial expressions for emotion detection, some of them might incorporate other methods as well. It’s always recommended to review the specifics of each tool to make sure it fits your particular needs.

Can you list the unique selling proposition of each one?

Absolutely, let’s break down the unique selling proposition (USP) of each mentioned software:

  1. SkyBiometry:
    • It offers detailed facial detection capabilities including the location of eyes, nose, mouth and other points for each face detected in a photo.
    • It can detect multiple faces simultaneously, making it suitable for group photos or crowded scenes.
    • It’s a cloud-based service that allows easy integration into any application: web, mobile, desktop or anything with Internet connectivity​1​.
  2. Face++:
    • It provides high-precision face bounding boxes and the ability to store metadata of each detected face for future use.
    • It offers a confidence score and thresholds to evaluate the similarity between two faces.
    • It provides flexible usage with both free and paid service according to your business volume, and SDK licensing options are also available on various devices​1​.
  3. Kairos:
    • It can recognize faces in diverse settings including videos, photos, and the real world.
    • It offers an ethical approach to identity, reflecting globally diverse communities.
    • Kairos provides an API for developers to easily build face recognition into their software products​1​.
  4. Azure Face API:
    • It offers a seamless and highly secured user experience with facial recognition embedded into your apps.
    • It can perceive faces and attributes in an image and recognizes a range of facial expressions.
    • It provides enterprise-grade security and privacy applied to both your data and any trained models. The service can be run on the cloud or on the edge in containers​1​.
  5. MorphCast:
    • It offers an interactive video platform where video content can be triggered by the viewer’s facial expressions.
    • It provides an analytics dashboard to evaluate the performance of your interactive videos and allows for audience experience adjustment based on interaction and emotional reaction.
    • It provides flexibility with free minutes of views per month, with payment only required for additional minutes​1​.

These USPs focus on the unique features that set these software apart from others. However, I would recommend reaching out to each company or utilizing free trials, if available, to better understand how these features can specifically benefit your use case.

Can you list the advantages to use one or another of these software?

Absolutely, I can outline some potential advantages of using each software. However, the specific benefits for you would depend on your use case and specific requirements. Here are some general advantages:

  1. SkyBiometry:
    • Detailed Facial Detection. This tool’s ability to detect and analyze various facial points can provide a more nuanced understanding of the subject’s emotions.
    • Multiple Faces Recognition. It can recognize multiple faces in a single image, making it suitable for analyzing group photos or scenes with multiple individuals.
    • Easy Integration. Being a cloud-based service, it can be easily integrated with various platforms including web, mobile, and desktop applications​1​.
  2. Face++:
    • High Precision. Face++ offers high-precision face detection and the ability to store metadata of each detected face for future use, which could be beneficial for longitudinal studies or repeated interactions with the same subjects.
    • Similarity Evaluation. The software can provide a score to evaluate the similarity between two faces, which could be useful in identity verification scenarios.
    • Flexible Usage. With both free and paid services, it caters to different scales of business volumes, and the availability of SDK licensing options on various devices adds to its flexibility​1​.
  3. Kairos:
    • Diverse Settings Recognition. Kairos can recognize faces in a variety of settings, including videos, photos, and the real world, offering versatility in application.
    • Ethical Approach. The company’s emphasis on an ethical approach to identity could appeal to those who are concerned about the fair and responsible use of AI technologies.
    • Developer Friendly. Kairos provides an API, enabling developers to easily integrate its face recognition technology into their software products​1​.
  4. Azure Face API:
    • Seamless User Experience. The ability to embed facial recognition into your apps can offer a smooth user experience.
    • Recognition of a Range of Expressions. This tool can detect a variety of facial expressions, which might lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the subject’s emotional state.
    • Enterprise-grade Security. The tool ensures high-level security and privacy for your data and any trained models, making it a reliable choice for sensitive or confidential applications​1​.
  5. MorphCast:
    • Interactive Video Platform. The platform can trigger video content based on the viewer’s facial expressions, offering a highly interactive and engaging user experience.
    • Performance Evaluation. The tool provides an analytics dashboard to evaluate the performance of your interactive videos, allowing you to adjust your content based on audience interaction and emotional reaction.
    • Flexible Pricing. With free minutes of views per month and payment required only for additional minutes, it provides a cost-effective solution for those who need interactive video capabilities ​1​.

Remember, it’s always a good idea to reach out to the software provider or take advantage of any free trials to get a hands-on understanding of how these advantages apply to your specific use case.

Which one is the cheapest?

From the pricing information I was able to find, here are the cheapest options for each software:

  • SkyBiometry. Their basic plan is priced at €50 monthly with 40,000 calls per month and each additional call costs €0.0125 ​1​.
  • MorphCast. They provide a substantial free tier each month. After this, the pricing is determined by usage time. The basic plan starts at $9, covering 100 hours of usage, which equates to about $0.0015/min. For more extensive needs, there’s an option for unlimited usage at a flat rate of $19 per month. 2​.
  • Behavioral Signals. They offer a starter tier that is free for the first 1500 minutes of audio processing. After that, they charge $0.01/min for batch processing & $0.012/min for streaming ​3​.
  • Kairos. They have a student plan that costs $19/month with an additional $0.02 per transaction ​4​.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find the exact pricing information for Azure Face API due to difficulties navigating the pricing pages. However, Microsoft’s Azure services generally have a complex pricing structure that can vary widely based on your usage and needs.

Please note that the actual cost of using these services can depend on a variety of factors, including your specific usage patterns, the number of calls or transactions you make, and any additional features or services you may require. It’s also worth noting that some of these services offer free tiers or trial periods, which can be a cost-effective way to test out their capabilities before committing to a paid plan.

I recommend reaching out to the providers directly or visiting their pricing pages for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

I need software to analyze facial expression with particular attention to the privacy issue. Which one of the mentioned is the best choice?

From the provided list, all of these services offer certain levels of privacy and data security, as is expected of such platforms. However, some do stand out due to their specific focus on privacy:

  1. MorphCast stands out for its strong commitment to privacy, thanks to its client-side AI processing. This ensures that frames capturing the user’s face are not transmitted to any server for processing. Additionally, MorphCast adheres strictly to GDPR and other relevant privacy laws, reinforcing its dedication to safeguarding user data and privacy 1.
  2. IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding. IBM ensures that your data is safe and secure. They do not collect or store your data. This is a good choice if data privacy is a top concern. However, Watson primarily deals with text data and not facial expressions ​1​.
  3. Kairos. This software offers the possibility to host the service on your own servers for ultimate control of data, security, and privacy. This means you could ensure that all data stays on your own systems without being transmitted to third-party servers, which is a key consideration for privacy 1​.
  4. Azure Face API. As a Microsoft product, Azure Face API is backed by Microsoft’s commitment to data privacy and security. It provides enterprise-grade security and privacy applied to both your data and any trained models. But, it’s always best to review Microsoft’s specific privacy policies related to this service to ensure they align with your needs ​1​.
  5. Behavioral Signals. This service has an emphasis on privacy and data security as well, but their primary focus is on voice data and not facial expressions​ 1​.

Given your specific need for analyzing facial expressions with a focus on privacy, I would recommend either Kairos or Azure Face API, as they both focus on facial recognition and have strong commitments to privacy and security. However, it’s essential to review each platform’s privacy policies and terms of service to ensure they meet your specific requirements. Always consider consulting with a legal expert or a data privacy specialist when making decisions regarding privacy-sensitive software.

Let me know which one of them is the most easy to integrate

The ease of integration for these facial recognition software solutions often depends on the specific technology stack and expertise of your development team. However, most of these tools are designed to be developer-friendly and offer APIs to facilitate integration. Here’s a brief overview of the integration aspect of each:

  1. SkyBiometry. Their cloud-based service allows for easy integration into any application, be it web, mobile, or desktop. They also offer a variety of API functionalities to be added to your app. SkyBiometry could be a good choice if you want a versatile solution that can be used across different platforms​ 1​.
  2. Face++. Face++ provides simple and powerful APIs and SDKs for integration. It’s a good choice if you’re looking for a comprehensive solution with flexible APIs that can be easily integrated into your applications ​1​.
  3. Kairos: Kairos offers a cloud API for integration and aims to simplify how developers integrate human identity into their software. If you’re looking for a solution that is focused on developer ease-of-use, Kairos could be a good option ​1​.
  4. Azure Face API. Microsoft offers a single API call for facial recognition integration, making it a good choice if you’re looking for simplicity. Azure Face API also allows for running in the cloud or on the edge in containers, offering flexibility depending on your use case ​1​.
  5. MorphCast. MorphCast is a dynamic tool created for professionals and can be downloaded for free from Microsoft and Mac App Store, indicating it has a focus on ease of use and integration. This could be a good choice if you want a solution that is simple to get started with and integrates well with standard app stores​ 1​.

Again, the “easiest” one to integrate will depend on the specifics of your application and the skills of your development team. It might be helpful to look at the documentation provided by each service to get a better idea of what the integration process looks like.

Which of them has an SDK that can help me to develop my web page with emotion ai capabilities?

All of these facial recognition software solutions provide APIs, and some of them also provide SDKs (Software Development Kits), which typically include libraries, documentation, code samples, processes, and guides that allow developers to create software applications on a specific platform:

  1. SkyBiometry. While their service is cloud-based and allows for easy integration into any application, they do not explicitly mention an SDK for web development in their overview. However, they offer API functionalities that can be integrated into your web application​ 1​.
  2. Face++. Face++ provides powerful APIs and SDKs. And they allow you to add leading, deep learning-based image analysis recognition technologies into your applications. It does not explicitly mention a web-based SDK, but their APIs can be used to build a web page with emotion AI capabilities ​1​.
  3. Kairos. Kairos offers a cloud API for integration and is focused on simplifying how developers integrate human identity into their software. While they do not explicitly mention a web SDK, their API can be used for web development​ 1​.
  4. Azure Face API. Azure Face API provides a single API call for facial recognition integration and allows for running in the cloud or on the edge in containers. They do not explicitly mention a web SDK, but their API can be utilized for web development​ 1​.
  5. MorphCast. They explicitly mention a Emotion AI HTML5 SDK. This let you easy integrate it in any web pages or app without the need to connect to any cloud API. It may be the best choice if you’re looking for a web SDK 1​.

To sum up: the best facial emotion recognition software in 2024

In conclusion, while not all of these options explicitly mention a web SDK, their APIs can be used to develop a web page with emotion AI capabilities. You might want to explore their documentation or contact their support for more specific details about their SDKs and APIs. Always consider the specific requirements of your web page and the expertise of your development team when making your choice.

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Stefano Bargagni

Internet serial entrepreneur with a background in computer science (hardware and software), Stefano codified the e-commerce platform and founded the online retailer CHL Spa in early 1993, one year before Amazon. He is the Founder and CEO of MorphCast.