Dell is developing mood-reading software for the workplace

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.