emotion recognition is used in society for a variety of reasons. affectiva, which spun out of mit, provides artificial intelligence software that makes it more efficient to do tasks previously done manually by people, mainly to gather facial expression and vocal expression information related to specific contexts where viewers have consented to share this information. for example, instead of filling out a lengthy survey about how you feel at each point watching an educational video or advertisement, you can consent to have a camera watch your face and listen to what you say, and note during which parts of the experience you show expressions such as boredom, interest, confusion, or smiling. (note that this does not imply it is reading your innermost feelings -- it only reads what you express outwardly.) other uses by affectiva include helping children with autism, helping people who are blind to read facial expressions, helping robots interact more intelligently with people, and monitoring signs of attention while driving in an effort to enhance driver safety.