Human Behavior is an area of study that overlaps many research disciplines including Psychology, Sociology and Behavioral Science. These Social Sciences analyze human behavior both individually and within groups. Traditionally, these areas of study have relied upon human observation to derive insights in both clinical and field settings.
From Freud to Fogg, thousands of researchers and behavioral scientists have worked to make connections about why and how people do what they do. We’ve moved from an offline world to an online one over the years, and with that, the curiosity for understanding these behaviors in new contexts has evolved.
Paul Ekman, a pioneer in the study of human emotions, set out to create a taxonomy of emotions and their corresponding facial expressions. Ekman concluded that humans living anywhere from the Amazon Jungle to the concrete jungle of New York City, respond similarly to the same stimuli.
Emotions like happiness and sadness are considered universal to all people. As humans we are governed by our irrational, subconscious reactions to our surroundings; often displaying emotional ambilvence to things. It is only after the fact do we attempt to rationalize our responses. Understanding that premise has opened the door for further detailed analysis of human behavior and how that impacts human decision making.
One system that analyses the complex movements of the face is the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). FACS was developed by Swedish anatomist Carl-Herman Hjortsjo in the late 1960s. It was popularized by Paul Ekman and Joseph C Hager as they developed their Emotion Analysis theories in the late 1970s.
BJ Fogg, known as the father of “captology” (a phrase he coined to describe the overlap of persuasion and computers), is a behavioral scientist that set out to show how computers predictably impact how people behave and think. Similar to Ekman, Fogg had a curiousity about how people react. Ekman’s work shows the universality of emotions across societies, and Fogg’s work in “Behavior Design”, which incorporate more of the modern technological world, illustrate how different experiences elicit specific human emotional responses and the relationship of computers in persuading and influencing those actions.
The face is the window to many human emotional responses, and serves as a perfect point for recording and understanding human behavior. Our expressions, and micro-expressions not only relay how we feel, but work in the composite of who we are. Face Recognition technology allows us to truly understand someone’s identity. Further, it establishes the basis for pairing identities with human responses.
Kairos, a human analytics company, builds off the research of great behavioral scientists of the past, and provides modern day technology solutions that can help automate analysis of human behavior. Kairos combines Social Science and Technology, allowing businesses to understand the variables that impact consumer decision making in real time.
Capturing Human Analytics
Traditional observation of human behavior generally requires a one-to-one or a one-to-many experimental design. The common tie being that there is technically only “one” observer. Adding technology into the observation process, allows for an amplification and scaling of the “experiments”.
Incorporating technology as a means to capture human behavior facilitates deeper analysis, and the collection of meaningful data about people.
With Kairos, still images, web content, and real-time video are processed by leading facial analysis, and emotional analysis algorithms. The process of collecting and analyzing data about human behavior is automated.
Facial Recognition, Emotional Analysis, and Crowd Analytics form a framework for understanding people in-depth, and at scale.
Discovering Human Metrics
Human Metrics are what we derive from Human Analytics. They are the measured human responses and behaviors that we capture via sensors, and other technology for the purpose of analysis.
As technology evolves, so to, does the range of the Human Metrics that we can record, and analyze.
Our current inputs allow us to understand more about who people are, how they feel, and what earns their interest. The outputs, Human Metrics, are measurements of people’s Presence, Sentiment, and Engagement, as well as identifying insight into the people that we Reach.
Quantified, Human Metrics are scores derived from aggregates of the measured human responses that we capture. Those responses and behaviors are based in the works of social scientists like Ekman, and processed through our facial and emotional analysis algorithms.
An Emotion Score adds a new dimension to data. While at the same time being quantitative, and qualitative, data becomes qualifying. In addition to understanding how many people watched, and shared a video, we can now understand how people feel as they watch a video. Offline, you can gauge Sentiment as people browse your store, or interact with your services or employees.
Human Metrics Explained
SentimentHow do people feel?
PresenceHow many people are there?
ReachAre you reaching the right people?
EngagementAre people interested?
Human Metrics allows us to gain deeper understanding into people’s interactions with companies. We gain presence at decisive moments by capturing those moments with technology. You learn the Kairos, the moment of decision, and action for each product, video, and experience. And we share that with you via actionable reports, and data in CSV, JSON, and XLS.
Human Metrics as Business Intelligence
File formats aside, what you truly receive is multi-dimensional Business Intelligence.
Kairos’ Human Analytics platform serves as a foundation for building intelligent experiments that return useful insights. It provides data about the people that interact with your products and services that can inform business decisions beyond a single campaign.
Retailers can detect Presence, and Reach as customers shop, and learn how customers feel while interacting with product displays. A/B testing is brought to the real world, in real-time, backed by data that can be analyzed across stores, and demographics.
Before products hit shelves, Market Researchers can compare how people say they feel about a product to the reactions that Emotion Analysis reveals. This new layer of data means smarter decision making for all of the teams involved in bringing a product to market.
Advertisers can test Engagement, as well as the other Human Metrics before exhausting spend on a campaign. Understanding the moments in a commercial that make people smile, or turn away lets you optimize your advertising budget.
Human Analytics can enhance people’s experiences in a variety of settings. In Healthcare, patient satisfaction can be addressed by capturing feedback and patient data. Authentication of staff with Facial Recognition adds a new layer to security.
Kairos lets you identify, understand, and remember people. This three-dimensional approach to understanding Human Behavior today, is the key to enhancing people’s experiences, now, and in the future.