nViso and IBM Take Facial Imaging to the Cloud

Swiss facial imaging specialist nViso has partnered with IBM to offer a cloud-based solution, through which it will provide enterprise-wide access to the emotional reactions of consumers to online ads and media.

nViso develops technologies for deciphering emotions, including its 3D facial imaging software, which captures participants' instantaneous reactions to adverts, assesses them against seven basic emotions, compares reactions to competitors' campaigns, and sorts data by demographic.

Through the partnership, nViso's software will run on IBM's SmartCloud framework, which nViso says eliminates the need for major investments in IT infrastructure, and results in 'significant cost savings' for clients.

Lauren States (pictured), CTO of Cloud Computing at IBM, comments: 'The IBM SmartCloud is designed to give innovative businesses like nViso secure access to enterprise level service in order to leverage existing investments and open new doors to productivity.'

The nViso service also features online visualization and charting tools that allow users to drill down and segment specific reactions to marketing stimuli - identifying when a respondent's surprise, happiness or sadness was most intense. This emotion data is compatible with IBM SPSS analytics tools, which nViso says provides a 'deeper understanding' of what is driving consumer behaviour and enhances the predictive capabilities of data analysis.

Web sites: www.nviso.ch and www.ibm.com .