A computer has been used to decipher the enigmatic smile of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, concluding that she was mainly happy.” An artist friend in Vancouver sent me a link to this website. The article discusses new “emotion recognition” technology, recently used to determine the emotions of the subject in the Mona Lisa. It was concluded that she was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry. I can’t see any direct connection in how this would be a useful tool for art historians. However, it might be useful for poker players.

The article also states that “software capable of recognizing emotions just by looking at photographs could lead to PCs that adjust their response depending on the user's mood.” I wonder what that would mean exactly. Many people are quite fearful of technology and get terribly frustrated with computers. If the user was getting frustrated, would the computer play soft music? Or if the user felt sad or lonely, would the computer search for an appropriate web site?

Another interesting bit from the article: “In 2003, a scientist from Harvard University said the way the human eye processes visual information meant the smile was only apparent when the viewer looked at other parts of the painting.” This is an interesting point regarding the capability/limitations of the unaided human eye. Admittedly, I haven’t seen the Mona Lisa with my own eyes so I can’t verify this. The one time I was in Paris, all museums were on strike. What a tragedy for an art student…

This article, and ones like it, always have me thinking about ways that we negotiate technological advances in our lives. I would pose the question; in what ways does technology further connect us rather than divide us? What kind of new stories (“true” or not) could be created from a computer’s reading of historical works of art?