Rooms of the future might be able to sense how you feel

Even the best poker face out there won't be able to trick a new device developed by MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Popular Science reports. The invention uses wireless signals that bounce off people's bodies to monitor information like their breathing and heart rate, and then translates that data into an understanding of what a person is feeling emotionally.

The device read emotions correctly 87 percent of the time when tested on a group of 30 people in trials, which makes it better at knowing how you feel than similar devices, such as Microsoft's Emotion API — and it doesn't use any strings or wires, or even need to see your face in order to work. The possibilities for use are endless: The tool could pick up when people are feeling depressed and change their environment's lighting or music, or give directors an idea of how focus groups are reacting to their shows or movies.

"Our work shows that wireless signals can capture information about human behavior that is not always visible to the naked eye," said Dina Katabi, the project's leader. Learn more about how the device works, below.