Robots to Read Human Faces

Facial expression recognition software is being developed to help robots teach humans by reading signs of confusion. According to Jacob Whitehill, at UC San Diego:

"If I am a student dealing with a robot teacher and I am completely puzzled and yet the robot keeps presenting new material, that’s not going to be very useful to me. If, instead, the robot stops and says, ‘Oh, maybe you’re confused,’ and I say, ‘Yes, thank you for stopping,’ that’s really good."

This software might also have another important application for helping the autistic read emotions in more 'Neuro-Typical' folk. I would have loved a face reading robot around when I was an aspie kid. Especially if it could also teach me cool stuff, and I, for one, welcome our new Robot Overlords.