Facebook patents 'emotion detecting' selfie filters

Having trouble choosing a selfie mask? Just cry directly into the camera.

A newly public patent shows that Facebook is eyeing tech that automatically chooses an animated selfie based on your current emotional state.

The patent filing, which was filed in 2016 but made public on Thursday, outlines a system for "identifying an emotion" and "selecting, based on the emotion, a mask from a set of masks." A "mask" is Facebook's preferred term for the selfie filters that add animations to your face. 

Instead of having to manually select a mask that fits your current mood, as you do now, Facebook's emotion-detecting software would be able to automatically select one based what it detects in the image. If the app detects "happiness, for example, it could bring up 'a mask named 'happy panda,'" Facebook writes in the filing. "[While] the emotion 'surprise' [maps] to a mask named 'surprised eyes,' the emotion 'anger' to a mask named 'angry bird,' and the emotion 'sadness' to a mask named 'gushing tears'." Read more...