Lina Al-Kaliouby
Egyptian-American pioneer in emotion AI technology and founder of Affectiva, transforming human-computer interaction
Lina Al-Kaliouby (b. 1983) is an Egyptian-American computer scientist and entrepreneur who co-founded Affectiva, a leader in artificial emotional intelligence (Emotion AI). Her work enables machines to recognize human emotions through facial expressions and voice analysis, creating groundbreaking applications in healthcare, automotive, and marketing sectors. Al-Kaliouby's research has been applied to autism therapy, driver monitoring systems, and personalized learning platforms, earning her recognition as a MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 in 2011.
Growing up between Cairo and Germany, Al-Kaliouby developed early interest in bridging human and machine communication. Her PhD work at the University of Cambridge focused on 'Emotionally Intelligent User Interfaces,' leading to the creation of the first wearable device for autism communication. This evolved into Affectiva's core technology, which now powers over 10 billion emotion data points from global users.
Her innovations have produced notable applications:
- Autism therapy tools helping children recognize emotions
- Automotive systems preventing drowsy driving through emotion detection
- Marketing analytics measuring consumer emotional responses
- VR therapy for anxiety disorders using real-time emotion tracking
Al-Kaliouby's advocacy for ethical AI includes founding the Emotion AI Ethics panel and speaking at TEDx events. Her book The Emotional Machine: A Future with Empathetic AI explores the societal implications of emotion recognition technology. Affectiva's acquisition by BMW in 2020 marked a major milestone in automotive AI integration.
Key achievements include:
- 2009: Launched Affectiva with Rosalind Picard
- 2013: First emotion recognition API for developers
- 2016: Launched Automotive SDK for driver monitoring
- 2020: BMW acquisition and expansion into healthcare