

Some research also suggests knowing how pleasant and unpleasant someone is feeling can be used to infer the second fundamental dimension of their feelings, namely their level of arousal – such as how “tense” or “calm” they are. Measuring pleasant and unpleasant feelings separately would allow users to report mixed feelings, which are common in everyday life. Moreover, scientists debate whether pleasantness and unpleasantness are opposite sides of a continuum, as the feature assumes, or whether they can co-occur as mixed emotions. This captures the primary dimension of feeling, known as valence, but neglects other essential dimensions.

Dimensions of feelingĪpple’s feeling slider asks people how pleasant or unpleasant they feel. It may even help people identify the often obscure causes of their moods. If the new feature allowed users to independently select both the time frame (momentary or daily) and type of feeling (directed emotion or diffuse mood) being experienced, this could help make users more aware of biases in how they remember feelings. On the other hand, moods are not consciously tied to specific events: I’m feeling grumpy, but I don’t know why.Īpple’s two reporting methods don’t neatly distinguish emotions from moods, even though they rely on different cognitive processes that can produce divergent estimates of people’s feelings. Is this a valid distinction?Īlthough scientific consensus remains elusive, emotions are typically defined as being about something: I am angry at my boss because she rejected my proposal. The science behind experience sampling Emotions versus moodsĪpple’s new feature allows users to record their feelings “right now” (labelled emotions) or “overall today” (designated moods). Research reviews suggest neither facial expressions nor physiological responses can be used to reliably infer what emotions someone is experiencing.īy adding self-report to its methodological toolkit, Apple may be recognising that subjective experience is essential to understanding human emotion and, it seems, abandoning the goal of inferring emotions solely from “objective” data. However, scientists are divided over whether emotions can be inferred from such bodily signals. Imagine if technology could read and react to our emotions And Apple is one of numerous technology companies that have invested in trying to detect people’s emotions from sensor recordings. Why does Apple now want users to log how they feel as well?ĭriven by a range of potential applications – from fraud detection to enhanced customer experience and personalised marketing - the emotion detection and recognition industry is projected to be worth US$56 billion (A$86.9 billion) by 2024.
#HAPPY SPONGEBOB MOODS SKIN#
The iPhone is equipped with an accelerometer, gyroscope, light meter, microphone, camera and GPS, while the Apple Watch can also record skin temperature and heart rate. Why does Apple care about our feelings?Īpple devices already collected copious amounts of health data prior to this update. Apple claims this will help users “build emotional awareness and resilience”. And Spongebob - and the characters on Spongebob - are incredibly direct in what emotion they’re trying to express,” he says.The goal is to give users daily and weekly summaries of their feelings, alongside data on factors that may have influenced them. “Pop cultural figures that become very meme-able have a lot to do with their ability to express specific emotions. Schimkowitz says a combination of factors make Spongebob memes so popular - nostalgia for the past, for one, and the fact that the cartoon was made for children actually makes it easier to design memes. “You can compare him to things like The Simpsons, or Shrek, or the Marvel movies, and Spongebob just has way more specific formats that have been repeated again and again.” “Overall, if you look at our database, there are few other pop culture properties that are as frequently used in memes as Spongebob,” says Matt Schimkowitz, a senior editor for the site whose job entails sifting through and organizing Spongebob memes submitted by users, as well as defining and explaining the best Spongebob memes.
#HAPPY SPONGEBOB MOODS TV#
To put that in context, other films and TV shows that make common meme fodder include the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is only featured in 276 images, and The Simpsons, which has 1,116 images.

On Know Your Meme, the internet’s primary database for all things meme-y, Spongebob Squarepants memes currently accounts for 4,635 images.
