Dell is developing mood-reading software for the workplace

Dell is working on software for existing brain-reading headsets that can accurately identify a user’s mood, the company says. The company could release a mood-reading app as soon as 2017, according to the BBC. Dell’s head of research and development Jai Menon said the company’s mood-reading tech has applications both at home and in the workplace, which frankly is worrying. What will the office be like if you can’t pretend you’re happy and productive whenever the boss walks by?

The head of Dell’s new research and development division has said the company could release a mood-reading application as soon as 2017. Jai Menon told the BBC that Dell Research was working on software for existing brain activity headsets that would accurately identify a wearer’s emotional states. He added that he believed such tech had uses in both the office and home. But some experts are sceptical about the project. “I think the potential for these things is astronomical, but we’ve been told this technology has been five years away for decades,” said Dr Bernie Hogan, a human-computer interaction expert from the University of Oxford. Mr Menon, however, is more optimistic. He said a team of two researchers were working with headsets made by Neurosky and other manufacturers – which cost between £60 to £120 – to see if they could be used to give a reliable indication of whether the wearer was happy, sad, bored or frustrated.