Computers could soon be used to automatically read their users' emotions and gauge public opinion, according to a piece in the New Scientist magazine.

Dr Rana El Kaliouby, a research scientist at MIT, says the new system being developed is able to detect "very subtle and very fleeting expressions", such as being "doubtful" for example. It's not yet able to detect "micro expressions", she points out however.

One of the purposed of the system is to give people "a non-verbal voice", she told the Today programme, enabling a "new way of engaging with online content".

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