Match Clinic: Face 1.2

What impact does technology have on our inter-personal relationships?

Science says love is just chemicals in the brain and sequences of genes. This project explores the consequences of this definition on the future of human relationships.

In a world where hacking into a dating site to increase your compatibility with other profiles is becoming more and more common, how will the increasingly scientific understanding of love impact the way we see ourselves and form relationships with others? Science says our immune system genes play a significant role in how we feel attracted to others; and labs all around the world are offering DNA compatibility tests to both singles and couples. Moreover, the quantified self movement has popularised various methods of self-tracking including emotion tracking. With advancements in biometrics technology, a galvanic skin response sensor together with facial expression analysis and eye tracking are now able to provide quantified feedback on a user's emotional well-being.

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Match Clinic is the result of collaboration with geneticists, psychologists and a neuroscientist. Together we came up with a speculative but very possible and scientifically backed scenario of love searching (Sara Seabrooke, CSO of Instant Chemistry; Tamara Brown, CSO of GenePartner; Jacqueline Olds, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry; Sharrona Pearl, a theorist of physiognomy from University of Pennsylvania; and Anar Amgalan, a neuroscientist at Stony Brook University).

Using cutting edge scientific instruments, the Match Clinic proposes to find the best match for you from the database, backed by existing scientific research on inter-personal relationships. Your genetic and psychological compatibility will be tested across a broad spectrum to increase your chances of achieving a high compatibility score with your future partner. Visit www.matchclinic.com to find out more.

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Face 1.2

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Match Clinic's flagship product - Face 1.2 - is a platform developed for the purpose of identifying which facial features are the most emotionally arousing to a customer. The test is to be done in a controlled environment while the customer is sat comfortably for the duration of the test. The program shows images of faces on a screen while his/her galvanic skin response readings are taken. Using the readings, the highest scoring face unique to each user is determined. For the demo program, a Neulog galvanic skin response sensor (a.k.a. lie detector) was used to identify which types of faces, out of hundreds from the database, match the highest emotional arousal reading in participants. So, what does your most emotionally arousing face look like?

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*Wolfram computing language was used to develop Face 1.2