Created by an Italian creative agency, Peekbeat analyzes our selfies to create Spotify playlists based on our moods and our states of mind
It is often said that music helps change our moods and improve our day. Some melodies, for example, help you relax; others are "energizing" and help you during physical activity; others improve your mood and make you happy.
Based on these assumptions, Italian startup Aquest has created PeekBeat¸ an application for iPhone and web browser that uses facial recognition to create music playlists based on the user's mood. By synchronizing the personal profile of Spotify, in fact, you will receive suggestions that can best fit our feelings: Peekbeat will go fishing, in the immense database of the Swedish music streaming service, for the most suitable audio tracks. And the choice, of course, will not be random: Peekbeat will use a self-timer of us - either a selfie or a photo saved on the device - to decide which are the songs that best suit us.
How PeekBeat works
For its operation, Peekbeat uses services and features of Azure, the Microsoft cloud platform (which has also collaborated in the development of the app itself). Using it is very simple, both from a smartphone and from a computer. In the first case, after downloading it from the App Store and installing it, you'll need to take a selfie or choose an image from the iPhone's photo gallery. In the second case, PeekBeat will ask you to access your webcam or invite you to upload an image stored in memory.
At this point, the facial scanning systems present in Microsoft Azure will start to study the face and, based on the facial expression coding system (FACS), will define if the user falls into one of the seven "standard" categories (anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise). At this point Peekbeat will go and fish the tracks from Spotify's database and, by synchronizing the profile, will let you listen to the playlist created specifically for our emotional state.