Researchers have been using special software that can detect emotions on people's faces that are very hard to see with just our eyes.
This software, which uses a computer program to study the face, can figure out how intense different facial expressions are all at the same time.
Scientists tested this software with parents and babies in real-life family settings.
How they tested it
They used videos of parents and babies interacting at home, filmed by little cameras worn by the babies.
What they found, and published in a journal called Frontiers, was that the software can make accurate predictions about how people are feeling by looking at their facial expressions.
The lead researcher, Romana Burgess, explained that people can have complex feelings, like being a little bit sad or somewhat happy.
The software can spot these small emotions.
But there's a catch: the software works best when the videos are high quality and everything is just right, like good lighting and clear camera shots.
It's not as good when things are more chaotic, like when people are moving around a lot.
Why it's useful
The researchers think this software could be really useful in understanding people's moods and mental health.
For example, it might help detect things like postnatal depression, which is when parents feel very sad after having a baby.
They hope to use this software in homes to better understand people's emotions and to monitor their mental health.
This could bring a new way of tracking health right into people's houses.
In the end, their goal is to use this software to understand parents' emotions during their time with their babies better and in a way that was not possible before.
