Gregory T. Huang
Waltham, MA-based Affectiva, an MIT Media Lab spinout, said today it has raised $5.7 million in Series B financing led by Kantar (WPP) and Myrian Capital. The company says it will use the money to develop and market its various software products for emotion recognition. Its technology includes computer vision and machine learning algorithms that estimate emotional states based on facial expressions (via webcam), as well as biometric sensors and software that track things like excitement, engagement, and anxiety. Affectiva was founded in 2009 by MIT scientists Roz Picard and Rana el Kaliouby; the company is led by CEO Dave Berman.
