S10.E14: The Emotion Detection Automation

[TheOtherOne]

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"The Emotion Detection Automation"- Sheldon beta-tests an MIT invention after hearing it can help him read people's emotions. Also, Leonard can't hide his feelings when Penny announces her brother is coming to town, and Raj invites his ex-girlfriends over to give him dating advice, on THE BIG BANG THEORY, Thursday, Feb. 2 (8:00-8:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Laura Spencer, Katie Micucci, Alessandra Torresani and Katie Leclerc return as Raj's ex-girlfriends.

[Spartan Girl]

If you're dumb enough to get all your exes together to discuss why they broke up with you, then you deserve everything you get. Raj is such an ass.

[abstractstuff]

40 year old babies with money, constantly bickering and whining. I cannot fathom why the hell Penny married him. She has to strap it on.  He is just so spineless.  Mostly commercials, with a bunch of whining. Awful. 

[mojoween]

I laughed at "the field was just here, the field said no" but otherwise the whole thing felt forced.

And for cod's sack watching Leonard and Penny fight is beyond over.  

I'm glad Randall isn't coming.  Only way it might be interesting is if he were recast.

Was that the same first Emily?  I know it's been like eight years since she was on but she looked different.

Oh the title card made me laugh too.

[anna0852]

I think Leonard and Penny both had valid points, I just wish we'd seen them actually work it out. 

Loved Sheldon and the emotions. Especially when he told Amy he'd stop enjoying the fight when she did.

[Chaos Theory]

I guess I am in the minority.  I liked the Raj story.  I would have liked it a whole lot better if the show had the nerve to make Raj gay or bi instead of just joking about it.  Raj and Howard have always had great chemistry boarderung on quasi romantic and I did like the end when they made plans for their future together if things don't work out with Bernie (Those parades do look like fun.)

Edited February 3, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[Nordly Beaumont]

35 minutes ago, mojoween said:

 

I laughed at "the field was just here, the field said no"

 

Loved it - Simon Helberg knows how to deliver a line!

36 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I'm glad Randall isn't coming.  Only way it might be interesting is if he were recast.

 

I always pictured DJ Qualls, but since he already played Toby Loobenfeld I guess that can't happen.

[msani19]

I was amused by the Raj storyline. mostly in theory and as a concept. That each of his exes went on to find a more suitable partner still didn't prompt more reflection fromRaj was disappointing. Unless the reflection was a more obvious reference to Raj/Howard being a couple. I just find them using that as a punchline is lazy and not funny. It feels like they will leave Raj single for the rest of the show, they have nothing. else to write for him.

The Penny & Leonard storyline was meh. It was made most amusing by the emotion machine, without that angle it would have just been another Penny Leonard fight because they don't communicate clearly. How original. 

As many have noted, the show is dying...swirling the drain. 

[Frost]

I kept waiting for Sheldon's MIT jokes and they didn't come!   I liked the boom box aspect of the emotion detector.  Sheldon just carried it around and pointed it at people.  I would have liked to have seen him use it at the university.  I miss the university.  The episodes are all home based now.

[OtterMommy]

I, um, hmmmm....  I really didn't like that episode.

The scene with Sheldon and Amy (when Sheldon was in the fetal position on the bed) was sweet but the rest of the episode swung between awkwardly stressful (pretty much everything with Leonard and Penny) and just weird (Raj and Howard).  I'm not sure I actually laughed at all during the episode.

And I have no recollection of Raj having a deaf girlfriend...  Of course, Raj is pretty unmemorable.

[Kiddvideo]

1 hour ago, OtterMommy said:

I, um, hmmmm....  I really didn't like that episode.

The scene with Sheldon and Amy (when Sheldon was in the fetal position on the bed) was sweet but the rest of the episode swung between awkwardly stressful (pretty much everything with Leonard and Penny) and just weird (Raj and Howard).  I'm not sure I actually laughed at all during the episode.

And I have no recollection of Raj having a deaf girlfriend...  Of course, Raj is pretty unmemorable.

The deaf girlfriend was the gold digger.

I find myself half-watching these days. I saw Raj with his exes but I had no idea what the rest of the episode was about. Have they already sent the baby to Chuck Cunningham's room?

[HyeChaps]

Raj should go to the same online dating site that found Amy for Sheldon. 

[shura]

9 hours ago, Frost said:

I kept waiting for Sheldon's MIT jokes and they didn't come!   I liked the boom box aspect of the emotion detector.  Sheldon just carried it around and pointed it at people.

Here's one for you:  "You'd think a 21st century 'feelings machine' would be an app, not a boombox. Ah, MIT..." 

[Rascotes]

Not a great effort this week.  For the life of me I can't figure out why the writers are so convinced that Leonard and Penny seeming to barely tolerate each other week after week is funny.  Not only is it repetitive but the tone just doesn't fit with the established line the show has developed over the years so the constant fighting feels disjointed.  If they want to show the two of them struggling to find the right balance in their marriage (it's already years into that relationship, by the way) they can still accomplish it without going back to the well so often.  Also, definitely agree that if Penny's brother were to be a recurring character he would have to be recast.  The guy have now would not be a welcome addition.  

As to the Raj situation, if they were going to do this they should have committed to it and let the girls be funnier than they were.  As it was, that was basically just a long cameo for them all.  They was no pay off beyond the scene between Howard and Raj after the women had already left.  I think it would have been interesting if they'd had Raj come out years ago but to do it now just wouldn't make any sense.  The character has clearly considered the possibility over the years and come to the conclusion that he's straight so doing this story now wouldn't make any sense.  I just feel like that ship has already sailed.

[Trey]

2 minutes ago, Rascotes said:

Also, definitely agree that if Penny's brother were to be a recurring character he would have to be recast.  The guy have now would not be a welcome addition.  

I was really afraid they were going there. So glad he's not going to show up.  I love this show, even lackluster episodes like this one, but I would have to quit watching if they decided to bring her brother in as a recurring character.

[DrSpaceman73]

Wow.......the two Emily's looked A LOT alike.  Not just the same name.  I wish they would have brought that up as a topic, more than just both of them having read hair.  I honestly didn't recall the deaf girflriend

I have never been a big fan of how they write Raj.  But I will defend him on the one girlfriend with social anxiety, though I don't recall her name.  He did push her a bit hard, but she really needed that to change.  Her social anxiety was crippling and pathologic.  She didn't like what he was trying to do, but he was trying to help her.  Its not like he was forcing her into unusual situations or dangerous ones.  He was trying to get her to ........meet his friends.  That's not out of line for a boyfriend or in any way inappropriate. 

I agree I don't want Jack Mcbrayer coming back as penny's brother.  I would like it if he was recast.  I like the suggestions of either David Spade, though he would be a bit old for the role, or, ideally, Aaron Paul.  Aaron Paul would be perfect. 

But I get tired of Penny and Leonard fighting.  Why are they married again?

[needschocolate]

It sounds like Sheldon needs to add an "amendment" onto Leonard and Penny's relationship agreement.  

[OtterMommy]

2 hours ago, Rascotes said:

Not a great effort this week.  For the life of me I can't figure out why the writers are so convinced that Leonard and Penny seeming to barely tolerate each other week after week is funny.  Not only is it repetitive but the tone just doesn't fit with the established line the show has developed over the years so the constant fighting feels disjointed.  If they want to show the two of them struggling to find the right balance in their marriage (it's already years into that relationship, by the way) they can still accomplish it without going back to the well so often.  Also, definitely agree that if Penny's brother were to be a recurring character he would have to be recast.  The guy have now would not be a welcome addition.  

Watching Leonard and Penny these days is like watching people close to you go through a divorce--which is strange because I was never that emotionally invested in Leonard or Penny.  It's just...uncomfortable, which is not something a sitcom should be.  Why are they doing this?  To emphasize how "cute" Sheldon and Amy and/or Howard and Bernadette are?  Because, honestly, THAT isn't working.  The merits of those two couplings come strictly from the couples, not from whatever Leonard and Penny do or are.

[Pop Tart]

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I have never been a big fan of how they write Raj.  But I will defend him on the one girlfriend with social anxiety, though I don't recall her name.  He did push her a bit hard, but she really needed that to change.  Her social anxiety was crippling and pathologic.  She didn't like what he was trying to do, but he was trying to help her.  Its not like he was forcing her into unusual situations or dangerous ones.  He was trying to get her to ........meet his friends.  That's not out of line for a boyfriend or in any way inappropriate. 

And I'll defend him on deaf Emily - who was the same actress who played her originally, btw. She broke up with him because his parents were going to cut him off financially and he wasn't going to be able to buy her things anymore and would have to return the expensive car and necklace he'd gotten for her. 

My only other note is that I'm so loving that Bernadette is wearing something other then floral dresses with short, cropped, skin tight sweaters over them. For the last couple years a recurring comment in my head was that we'd never seen Bernadette in pants. Always the floral dresses (unless she's out at a bar, then it's something sexier) with the little sweaters and tights. I longed for her to show up in a scene in jeans. And finally she is! She looks so much better to my mind. I know they've changed her up because she's a new mom and so is relaxing the wardrobe, but I hope when she goes back to work they don't revert to her only wearing one thing all the time.

Related to this, I'd appreciate it if they'd do something with all the character's wardrobes (outside of Penny). Leonard is still wearing hoodies with a various jackets over them. Sheldon is still layering a t-shirt over a longer sleeved shirt. Raj where's his sweater vests over button down shirts. Amy wears a sweater, blouse and skirt, ad infinitum. I get that their clothes are a shortcut for the viewer as to who they are, but it's been ten years? Some modification or switching it up would be welcome. Only Penny is allowed the many moods of clothes.

And side side note to this - they live in Pasadena and Leonard wears a jacket over a hoodie all the time!

Ha! Apparently I had quite the wardrobe rant bottled up.

[Cowgirl]

The ex-girlfriend summit was a missed opportunity.  There was just so much more they could have done with that.  Howard was the only funny one in that scene.  I did like that the deaf Emily still seemed like a gold digger when describing her new man.  They should have had Raj grow a bit more out of that experience.  They also didn't acknowledge that he was dating Emily 2 and Sci Fi girl at the same time and that's why they dumped him.  I thought they were going there a couple of times but then they veered away. 

This show is best when there is a sense of joy to at least one of the storylines.  This episode was just joyless. 

[hnygrl]

Raj and his women. Some of them HE dumped so....what the hell? He dumped Dr. Emily. She didn't dump him. The bartender with the white hair? THEY NEVER DATED!!!!! What the hell? And the deaf chick? She only dated him for the goodies...cars, cash, jewelry...when the cash stopped flowing, so did she. Show, how can you count that one????? That one wasn't Raj's fault. This would've been better if he'd actually LISTENED and learned from it. Like, when they said he was too needy and pushy and blah blah, he actually...listened and asked how he could have been a better boyfriend. Instead? SHUT UP!!!! DON'T WRITE THAT DOWN!!!! THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!!!! Sheesh.

I'm not even mentioning the other storyline...gag

This show is surely circling the drain when Sheldon has all the good/decent/funny lines. ALL of them.

And they wanna do ANOTHER SEASON??? ANOTHER ONE????

 

WHY????

Edited February 3, 2017 by hnygrl

[LoneHaranguer]

13 hours ago, Frost said:

I kept waiting for Sheldon's MIT jokes and they didn't come!

It was part of the partnership agreement the guys went in on for their invention that Sheldon couldn't be disrespectful of Howard or engineering, so Sheldon is more limited than he used to be.

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

But I get tired of Penny and Leonard fighting.  Why are they married again?

Lately they've been saying he wore her down, but from previous episodes, Penny saw herself as pushing 30 with no real prospects of getting a guy she could be enthusiastic about, so she settled for Leonard.

3 minutes ago, hnygrl said:

The bartender with the white hair? THEY NEVER DATED!!!!! What the hell?

In the episode where Raj went to the wine tasting with her (Claire) she mentioned that they had something casual going on, and Raj spent quite a bit of time in another episode bragging about dating both her and creepy Emily at the same time.

[Scott]

57 minutes ago, Pop Tart said:

And side side note to this - they live in Pasadena and Leonard wears a jacket over a hoodie all the time!

To be fair, I work in Pasadena, and it's only supposed to hit 61 today, so everyone is bundled up.

[Pop Tart]

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To be fair, I work in Pasadena, and it's only supposed to hit 61 today, so everyone is bundled up.

Okay, I'll take that since it's winter (although it's currently 12 degrees here in Wisconsin - so your winter and mine...).  But he wears this combo ALL the time. Really all the guys dress in layers for a climate that for about 4/5ths of the year doesn't need it. The only one who's ever dressed as though she lives in southern California, is Penny.

When I thought about my wardrobe rant a bit more, I realized that while I meant it somewhat jokingly, it really is just reflecting the stale-ness of the show in general. 

[Scott]

10 minutes ago, Pop Tart said:

(although it's currently 12 degrees here in Wisconsin - so your winter and mine...)

Hehe...having grown up in NW Indiana, I do understand real winter.  My comment was honestly more making fun of people here complaining about how bitterly cold it is.

I can cut them a little slack, because I can imagine the buildings on campus might be overly air-conditioned, and the layers might be intended to counteract that.  But yeah, there are a couple months of consistent 90+ in the summer, usually with at least a couple days over 100, so they certainly wouldn't need to dress that way then.

[zxy556575]

I wanted to see Raj's fat lady hookup! In my head he dated her for a few months before she dumped him.

Most of these were aborted relationships, but Raj could maybe have learned something from Lalita Gupta, Dr. Plimpton, Cheryl from Penny's Halloween party, Abby (Danica McKellar), the cleaning lady at work, and don't forget Siri!

[kat165]

First off, I thought the Raj portion was poorly written, but brushing that aside for a minute, Raj never convinced me that he was sincerely interested in changing. So it didn't matter what the ladies said to him. Perhaps it was a ploy for one of them to feel sorry for him and date him again. But I never got the impression that he was going to take anything they said to heart and make some changes.

Edited February 4, 2017 by kat165

[Traveller519]

The cleaning lady at work! I'd forgotten about her! That was recent too. Did they wind it up officially? Sigh, they're really stuck for Raj here. Any actress they pick up for him will have a good negotiating power to get close to Mayim and Melissa's contracts which isn't spare change for a show that's in its twilight.

On the wardrobe topic, Bernadette's wadrobe was quite different from what we've seen in the past. Leggings and long flowing shirts. Was it an attempt to give her a "tired mother" look?

[OtterMommy]

1 minute ago, Traveller519 said:

On the wardrobe topic, Bernadette's wadrobe was quite different from what we've seen in the past. Leggings and long flowing shirts. Was it an attempt to give her a "tired mother" look?

My guess is that they just wanted to give her a post-partum look.  Also, I doubt she's back at work yet, so there is no need for her usual "uniform."

[CleoCaesar]

5 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Wow.......the two Emily's looked A LOT alike.  Not just the same name.  I wish they would have brought that up as a topic, more than just both of them having read hair.  I honestly didn't recall the deaf girflriend

My thoughts exactly. I thought there was going to be at least a joke about how the two Emilys looked like sisters if not fraternal twins.

I also had no memory of the deaf Emily.

[PinkRibbons]

As a life-long Angeleno, I can tell you layers are the name of the game. No matter the time of year, I carry a cardigan for overly AC-ed places and only wear long sleeves when it's absolutely freezing, because lots of places overcrank the heat. This is not a place where anyone understands how to work with the climate. And the climate isn't the greatest help either; despite our reputation for sunny weather, a good six months of the year are chilly and/or overcast (June gloom especially is deeply depressing). Last week a month of rain was interrupted for balmy, sunny weather and right now it's raining again. I have levels of tights thickness.

[LADreamr]

I'm always grateful for the scant cool/rainy days we get in LA.  I live in the Valley, where it can be over 100 for weeks at a time, and it's draining and exhausting, so the relief we get in what we call winter is very welcomed.  So people here who complain about the rare cold or wet days make me irrationally stabby.  Anyway, yeah the layers are important because the temperature can also go up or down several dozen degrees over the course of a day. 

[needschocolate]

I get that the wardrobe is part of the character, although this show seems to do it more than other shows.  I don't understand how the actors can stand it.  Johnny Galecki in jackets and hoodies and Kaley Cuoco in a sleeveless summer dress in the same scene.  When they yell "cut" does JG immediately strip off the outer layers an rub a piece of ice on his neck or does KC have someone who immediately runs over to her with an already warm electric blanket?  

[buffynut]

Wasn't impressed with this episode at all. Seems like we've seen Sheldon struggle with recognizing other people's emotions a million times already.  So over-done.

I spent most of the time with Raj's ex's trying to figure out if deaf Emily was the same actress as before.  Other than that, I'm so tired of Raj being the loser. I mean, Sheldon has a girlfriend, and Raj doesn't!

Penny and Leonard - eh.

Don't think I laughed at all last night.  

[iMonrey]

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It's just...uncomfortable, which is not something a sitcom should be.  Why are they doing this? 

If I were to hazard a guess, I would say the writers don't know what else to do with Leonard and Penny other than "conflict." So we get these same old fights over and over again and it really does make it seem like they shouldn't even be together. What we need is a some sort of major change, like maybe Leonard and Penny buying a house or having a baby but they're not interested in tampering with the formula of the show to that extent. They want to keep Leonard and Sheldon in close proximity so they can all interact more easily.

The speculation between Raj and Howard about being a gay couple felt forced and inorganic. It just went on too long and didn't sound like a natural conversation the two of them would have.

[OtterMommy]

4 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The speculation between Raj and Howard about being a gay couple felt forced and inorganic. It just went on too long and didn't sound like a natural conversation the two of them would have.

My thoughts exactly.  I mean, people have been joking about it for years and they've sort of played that up, but the way it was presented in this episode was just...strange.  I couldn't figure out if they were doing some sort of fanservice or if they just had the worst possible writers on that scene.

[Indy]

3 hours ago, Pop Tart said:

And side side note to this - they live in Pasadena and Leonard wears a jacket over a hoodie all the time!

I'll defend Leonard's layers, at least for work.  I work for physicists in a similar field to Leonard and our building is freaking freezing all of the time to keep the lasers and equipment from overheating. I'm generally a cold person so my year-round work wardrobe is sweaters, sometimes topped by a sweatshirt. Even in the middle of a DC summer heatwave where you'll melt outside, I dress like it's winter...summers are actually colder in here because they crank the A/C up and it's like working in a walk-in fridge.  Right now I'm wearing a winter hat. So if his lab is as cold as mine is, maybe his need for work-day warmth has just morphed over into his everyday style.

What does surprise me though is that Penny, as fashion-conscious as she is, hasn't at least influenced his wardrobe a little. Not a complete overhaul like Dr. Stephanie tried to do, but just little bits here and there.  Same with Amy, as much as her personality has blossomed since being around Penny (and even Bernadette), I'm a bit surprised her wardrobe hasn't modernized a bit - not to say she has to show more skin or whatever, but I'm surprised the frumpiness has still continued all these years. 

[LoneHaranguer]

12 minutes ago, Indy said:

What does surprise me though is that Penny, as fashion-conscious as she is, hasn't at least influenced his wardrobe a little

Apparently, Leonard is stubborn about his choices. She complimented Priya for being able to get him out of his hoodie, saying that she couldn't.

[Cowgirl]

@Indy that is interesting about the cold lab.  Makes sense though.  

I also agree with you that I am surprised that some of Penny and Bernadette's fashion sense hasn't influenced Amy more.  In fact, it's irked me, because her original frumpy wardrobe was inherited from her grandmother, and it was implied that she was just frugal.  Now, she goes shopping for new clothes with the other gals, but still buys the same old grandma-inspired looks.  I suppose anyone can change, or that it could be that she knows this is what Sheldon likes.  Well, not what he likes, but what he's used to, and he doesn't do well with change. In last night's episode he told her to put her glasses back on because she looked weird.

[chocolatine]

LMAO at the bulky emotion detector contraption straight out of the 70s. These days all of the information to determine emotion (facial expression, tone of voice, etc.) can be captured with a smartphone. MIT must be furious that this is being attributed to them.

The show has made Raj a third wheel to Howard and Bernadette's relationship for so long that I've stopped caring about his romantic life, so the ex-girlfried debrief did nothing for me.

Is all the Penny/Leonard bickering supposed to lead to a divorce by the end of the season?

[LoneHaranguer]

31 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

LMAO at the bulky emotion detector contraption straight out of the 70s. These days all of the information to determine emotion (facial expression, tone of voice, etc.) can be captured with a smartphone. MIT must be furious that this is being attributed to them.

Prototypes are always bulky, and until they're done they won't know how much can be farmed out to a smartphone. Assuming they're not aiming for something implantable, or for an automated application, in which case building something around a smartphone isn't even an option.

[chocolatine]

44 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Prototypes are always bulky, and until they're done they won't know how much can be farmed out to a smartphone. Assuming they're not aiming for something implantable, or for an automated application, in which case building something around a smartphone isn't even an option.

The emotion detector is software. The input for the software - picture/video of facial expression and voice recording - can be captured via a smartphone. The prediction of the emotion based on the input doesn't have be done on the phone; a lot of computation isn't done directly on phones as most apps are just interfaces that offload the computation to a server. But technically you could run it on the phone since the prediction is not what's computationally expensive - the training of the model is, and that part is done separately from the phone app anyway. In this case, the detected emotion was served by an app, so it made absolutely no sense to have the facial expressions and voice recorded by a separate device.

Edited February 4, 2017 by chocolatine

[EVS]

IIRC, deaf gold-digger Emily was blond in her original episode which might be why I didn't recognize her at first. I do remember her original episode pretty well.

I agree that they could have done so much more with Raj and his exes. I was glad to hear that Lucy (? girl with anxiety) was in a seemingly happy relationship though.

I also hoped that Amy would update or improve her wardrobe slightly after the flood that ruined most of her clothes (and caused her to move in with Sheldon initially). That was a missed opportunity, imo.

Edited February 4, 2017 by EVS

[chitowngirl]

Raj and deaf Emily's whole relationship was over the course of one episode, so it would be easy to gloss over it. Penny knew her from the gym and she set them up. The other storyline was Sheldon letting a roll of the dice deciding all his decisions.

Maybe now that they cleared the air about Raj's relationships, they can get him a decent girlfriend. They should bring back the veterinarian. 

Part of the pacing problems I think come from having 3 stories going on when the episode lengths are so short now. 2 stories would be better. 

Edited February 4, 2017 by chitowngirl

[HawaiiTVGuy]

22 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I guess I am in the minority.  I liked the Raj story.  I would have liked it a whole lot better if the show had the nerve to make Raj gay or bi instead of just joking about it.  Raj and Howard have always had great chemistry boarderung on quasi romantic and I did like the end when they made plans for their future together if things don't work out with Bernie (Those parades do look like fun.)

I liked the Raj wanting to find out what was wrong, honestly it hit a soft spot with me because I was like that way back when, and it seemed like he did have a few things to work on.  It seems like a lot of it is self-inflicted (pushing Lucy, trying to date two girls at one time) which really confuses me because he seems to be the type to really try to be a good boyfriend, although I guess from what we did see, in spite of being one of the more socially aware guys, he did have issues knowing his boundaries and reading the room with his girlfriends.  Was the person they were talking about in the beginning that triggered this road to self-exploration the janitor he had that impromptu date with?

[shura]

2 hours ago, chocolatine said:

In this case, the detected emotion was served by an app, so it made absolutely no sense to have the facial expressions and voice recorded by a separate device.

It reminded me of an old joke about an advanced Soviet calculator that came with two large suitcases to carry the batteries in. Hasn't this emotion recognition been done already, btw? I think Malcolm Gladwell has something like that in one of his books, described as done purely by watching someone's facial expressions. Absolutely no need to deploy a slide projector from the 70s.

Oh, and the readout in the form of one of four emojis? Really, MIT? Come on, man! Reminds me of a Verizon bill overhaul a couple of months ago. It came proudly announcing that the new redesigned bill is easier to follow, I take a look, and the thing looks like it's designed to be followed by a kindergartner. Lot's of empty space on the page, large print, bright, different colors... Honestly, I felt a little insulted.

Edited February 4, 2017 by shura

[LoneHaranguer]

2 hours ago, chocolatine said:

In this case, the detected emotion was served by an app, so it made absolutely no sense to have the facial expressions and voice recorded by a separate device.

It does if the sensors in a smartphone wouldn't have enough sensitivity, resolution, or speed, or the real-time data would be too much for the app and something needs to preprocess/condense it.

[chocolatine]

3 minutes ago, shura said:

Hasn't this emotion recognition been done already, btw?

Yes, it has, and with much better results than the fictional MIT prototype in this episode (85% accuracy on a four-class problem is nothing to write home about).

[chocolatine]

1 minute ago, LoneHaranguer said:

It does if the sensors in a smartphone wouldn't have enough sensitivity, resolution, or speed, or the real-time data would be too much for the app and something needs to preprocess/condense it.

You only need a picture or short video of a facial expression and a short voice recording. All smartphones are capable of that. And the feature extraction from real time data is done on a cloud service. The app is just an interface.

Trust me, I do this for a living. :)

[Mom x 3]

9 hours ago, Pop Tart said:

 My only other note is that I'm so loving that Bernadette is wearing something other then floral dresses with short, cropped, skin tight sweaters over them. For the last couple years a recurring comment in my head was that we'd never seen Bernadette in pants. Always the floral dresses (unless she's out at a bar, then it's something sexier) with the little sweaters and tights. I longed for her to show up in a scene in jeans. And finally she is! She looks so much better to my mind. I know they've changed her up because she's a new mom and so is relaxing the wardrobe, but I hope when she goes back to work they don't revert to her only wearing one thing all the time.

This is actually quite realistic, because she is currently on the worst 6 week period of her life, and who wants to screw with holding your skirt up and getting your pretty tights possibly ruined while you change your padding nearly every two hours.  Plus, her hormones are crashing, so weeping spells and hot flashes are common as well.  

Sorry for the TMI.