{"id":338181,"date":"2017-04-13T00:01:04","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T16:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1476026"},"modified":"2017-04-13T00:01:04","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T16:01:04","slug":"this-billion-dollar-startup-wants-to-capture-your-emotions-in-virtual-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/this-billion-dollar-startup-wants-to-capture-your-emotions-in-virtual-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"This billion-dollar startup wants to capture your emotions in virtual reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Social VR has the potential to shift the bounds of human communication, it\u2019s part of the reason why Facebook has invested billions in the technology.<\/p>\n

One of the keys to having positive VR interactions will be having the ability to interpret the emotions of the people you\u2019re chatting with. Today, Mindmaze<\/a> is showing off the MASK, a device that reads the emotions on your face while you\u2019re in VR.<\/p>\n

I had a chance to meet with Mindmaze CEO Tej Tadi and demo the emotion-tracking product. After strapping the MASK-equipped headset on, I was able to see an onscreen avatar mimic my emotions with startling speed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What really makes this product stand out is the\u00a0genius form factor, electrodes are outfitted into the foam liner face pad that is already pressed up against your face when you\u2019re securing your headset. These electrodes get a sense of your facial muscles and can even predict what your emotions will be milliseconds before you fully complete it.<\/p>\n

The device senses a limited range of emotions at the moment including smiling, frowning, winking, smirking and raising your eyebrows but there\u2019s so much you can convey in a social VR setting once you unlock body language. Once major headset manufacturers unlock eye-tracking technologies the combination will make social VR experiences that much richer.<\/p>\n

Mindmaze received the distinction last year of being the first VR-focused startup to receive unicorn status<\/a> after receiving a $1 billion valuation following a $100 million raise.<\/p>\n

Mindmaze has been\u00a0in a more comfortable position than most in the VR industry. They sell their own proprietary headsets to hospitals so they don\u2019t really have to worry about the broader industry or how many headsets Oculus is selling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pressure is off a bit,\u201d Tadi admits.<\/p>\n

Mindmaze is\u00a0already in 50 hospitals across Europe and Asia where their technology is helping stroke victims and amputees rehabilitate.<\/p>\n

As Mindmaze\u00a0breaks into the consumer market, things grow a bit more uncertain but Tadi insists that the MASK falls in line with the company\u2019s bread-and-butter medical ambitions, that being \u201ccommercializing the interface between the brain and VR.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s social hardware follows announcements late last year that Facebook will be introducing an expansive social platform. While the demo showcased some pretty emotional avatars, it was later revealed that all of the\u00a0avatars\u2019 smiles and jaw-drops were courtesy of controller gestures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mindmaze hopes that by capitalizing by the emotions already on people\u2019s faces, they can entice more consumers.<\/p>\n

MASK\u2019s form factor is a clear win, and\u00a0the company says that when the product is eventually available to consumers, it will cost less than $40. Selling VR peripherals direct is a challenging business, so for Mindmaze, the main\u00a0task will be getting top headset manufacturers to bake the tech into future iterations of their products. Tadi tells us that Mindmaze is already in talks with manufacturers, though he wasn\u2019t able to share names.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Social VR has the potential to shift the bounds of human communication, it’s part of the reason why Facebook has invested billions in the technology. One of the keys to having positive VR interactions will be having the ability to interpret the emotions of the people you’re chatting with. Today, Mindmaze is showing off the MASK, a device that reads the emotions on your face… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-338181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}