Hyundai Motor Group Develops Emotion Recognition 'LittleBig Emotion'... Utilized for Treating Child Patients

Pilot Use at Spain SJD Children's Hospital

The kids mobility 'Little Big Emotion' developed by Hyundai Motor Group is being used in the treatment process of child patients (Photo by Hyundai Motor Group)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Hyundai Motor Group announced on the 15th that it has developed a kids mobility vehicle called ‘Little Big Emotion’ equipped with emotion recognition technology and will conduct trial operations for treating child patients. Emotion is designed to reduce stress related to medical treatment by recognizing children's emotions through artificial intelligence algorithms and providing relevant information in advance, enabling preliminary medical examinations.

Emotion is based on Emotion Recognition Vehicle Control (EAVC) technology, which enables interaction between the vehicle and its occupant. EAVC measures biometric signals such as the occupant's facial expressions and heart rate to understand their emotional and physical state, and integrates control of sensory elements inside the vehicle to optimize the interior space of the mobility in real time according to the occupant's emotions and situation. It actively controls in-vehicle systems such as music, temperature, and lighting based on data learned through artificial intelligence machine learning.

The EAVC technology showcased in this project is a research collaboration between Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D headquarters and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab in the United States. It was applied with the aim of reducing stress during treatment, based on the insight that hospitalized children fear the short distance from their hospital room to the treatment room.

The core components of the EAVC technology applied to Emotion include five types: ▲facial expression recognition system ▲breath-guiding seatbelt ▲heart rate measurement sensor ▲emotion-responsive ambient lighting ▲emotion-based scent dispenser. After recognizing emotions, these activate four types of sensory response devices: visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory.

First, the facial expression recognition system reads the child's facial expressions through a camera mounted in front of the driver's seat to identify emotions. Then, the breath-guiding seatbelt with air pockets wraps around the body to help provide psychological stability, and the heart rate measurement sensor attached to the seatbelt measures heart rate and breathing. The measured emotional and physical state information is transmitted to medical staff and simultaneously output in various content forms to add enjoyment. The emotion-responsive ambient lighting applied to the lower part of the vehicle body changes colors in coordination with EAVC to convey the child's emotional state to medical staff and guardians. Red indicates a state of high fear, yellow indicates somewhat reduced fear, and green indicates readiness for treatment.

Additionally, the emotion-based scent dispenser releases a sweet candy scent in sync with the expansion cycle of the breath-guiding seatbelt, which helps deep breathing and mood refreshment. In the final stage of moving to receive treatment, soap bubbles are sprayed.

Emotion is designed for preschool children. It measures 1380 mm in length, 810 mm in width, and 820 mm in height, with a top speed of 7 km/h. The design was handled by the design team responsible for the EV concept car ‘45’.

For this project, Hyundai Motor Group also collaborated with the SJD Children’s Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, known in Europe for specializing in pediatric medical research. Emotion is currently being piloted at SJD Children’s Hospital, and the user experience data generated through this project will be used in future research on AI-based in-vehicle emotion recognition and for child passengers.

A Hyundai Motor Group official stated, “We are researching the value that future mobility can provide to customers in various moving spaces as a companion in life, beyond the role of a vehicle as a means of transportation,” adding, “The fusion of cutting-edge mobility control technology and AI-based emotion recognition technology will provide an optimized moving space for occupants.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.