Affectiva, the global leader in Emotion AI, today announced its emotion recognition SDK has been integrated with Unity, the multi-platform game development engine. Available for macOS, Windows, Android and iOS, the integration allows agencies and developers to build immersive experiences that adapt to users’ emotional states in real-time across multiple platforms.
Accessibility challenges of wearable devices and sensors have made it difficult for developers to incorporate biofeedback in a way that truly captivates users and provides an adaptive game experience. With its Unity plug-in, Affectiva has leveled typical barriers to entry so developers can develop and launch new emotion-sensing gaming experiences with minimum risk, and at a relatively low-cost. Game developers such as BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. and the creators of SYNC have already explored Affectiva’s emotion recognition software to innovate and make gameplay even more personal.
“As a love story video game, human emotions are what makes SYNC engaging and worth playing,” said William Pheloung, developer for SYNC. “The Affectiva emotion recognition SDK and Unity plug-in allowed us to design a game completely controlled by players’ facial expressions, and without common biofeedback gaming obstacles like clunky headsets or sensors. Game developers are constantly striving for that edge to make a game more immersive and accessible. Affectiva has allowed us to achieve that with an environment in which real-world emotions and digital experiences are intertwined.”
“We are very excited about the Affectiva Unity plug-in and its emotion capture technology,” said Yasushi Omori, executive officer, head of technology unit, BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. “Our development teams at BANDAI NAMCO are testing it on visionary new titles that will redefine the meaning of user engagement.”
In addition to gaming, Affectiva’s Unity plug-in allows for a seamless emotion-capture platform across numerous other industries, like marketing and medical research. For marketers that want to create interactive retail displays, or researchers testing the success of new tools that help people on the autism spectrum engage with others, Affectiva is transforming the way humans interact with technology and allowing developers to create unique and groundbreaking applications with emotion-aware artificial intelligence.
“Once we realized the potential for Affectiva in gaming and other industries, we hit the ground running and adapted the SDK to better fit their specific needs,” said Dr. Rana el Kaliouby, co-founder and CEO, Affectiva. “The gaming industry in particular is highly competitive, so we wanted to offer our customers the tools to innovate with Emotion AI as quickly as possible. We’ve received feedback from customers that the Unity plug-in took less than an hour to integrate, and they were able to use it to improve their immersive user experiences almost immediately.”
