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I wrote a program that sends cats to my phone when I'm sad at the computer

307 pointsby steventeyabout 3 years ago

25 comments

theonethingabout 3 years ago
Would be interesting to use this to track your facial emotion in relation to what you are doing at your computer; e.g. facebooking, reading news, working, etc.<p>If you&#x27;re a developer, what kind of programming you&#x27;re doing, language, platform, etc. Could scientifically prove once and for all whether or not Ruby <i>is</i> optimized for programmer happiness.
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adenforshawabout 3 years ago
Maker of the Cat API the author uses here - love his use-case, and a wonderfully useful &amp; concise write-up to boot.
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xiphias2about 3 years ago
I was first thinking that the author has a real cat and uses a remotely controlled laser pointer...well, it may be version 2
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butwhywhyohabout 3 years ago
Does anyone else find this mildly dystopian? I mean, it&#x27;s a cool and really fun project, but it doesn&#x27;t take much imagination to envision a service like this actually taking off.<p>&quot;We monitor your mood 24&#x2F;7 and automatically send you &#x27;happy thoughts&#x27; on demand! Contemplating your feelings? Why bother! Here&#x27;s a cute cat video! Never feel uncomfortable, pensive, or existential again!&quot;
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bombcarabout 3 years ago
I feel that `thecatapi` and `placekitten` should get together and save the planet whilst providing various cats at a consistent size.
ivraatiemsabout 3 years ago
I solved this problem in a lower-tech way by simply configuring the area behind my workstation as a cat bed. Now, I can turn around and enjoy looking at my cat at any time, as she loves her bed and rarely leaves it. Stress eliminated!<p>Yes, she is taking Series A funding in the form of wet food, if anyone is interested.
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bjt2n3904about 3 years ago
All at once, it fills up my feed<p>More bad news that I didn&#x27;t need<p>I can&#x27;t stop reading but I wish that I didn&#x27;t know<p>Still too soon, there&#x27;s not much to say<p>They don&#x27;t know, but talk anyway<p>All of the pieces, and none of the places they go<p>So I am looking at pictures of cats<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;4JO-KRT0Vf0" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;4JO-KRT0Vf0</a>
VoodooJuJuabout 3 years ago
This exact thing was a dystopian little vignette in the movie <i>Don&#x27;t Look Up</i>. Funny and scary that it&#x27;s real now.
teekertabout 3 years ago
Now this sounds like fun, when Peter Isherwell [0] proposed it, it was a bit more scary.<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt11286314&#x2F;characters&#x2F;nm0753314" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt11286314&#x2F;characters&#x2F;nm0753314</a>
sdoeringabout 3 years ago
Since working from home I have between 3 and 6 coworkers. The stress relief tends to depend on the fact that some are better behaved&#x2F;trained than others.<p>My SO and me are a foster home for stray cats that were found to need special care during neutering campaigns for stray cats. While most strays in these campaigns return to their spots after being neutered some (like kittens found in trash bins or cats with injuries that need longer treatment) are being put up for adoption.<p>Especially with newly arrived foster cats they need to be taught what the are allowed and especially what not (let the plants live, not jumping onto the table). After that they are the most lovely coworkers lying on the chairs next to me.
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hunterb123about 3 years ago
Are people always smiling at the computer? My face rests with a frown.<p>The more intent I&#x27;m thinking, the more likely I&#x27;m frowning, then CAT! Which is realistic at least.<p>Inverse it and you can tell when you&#x27;re probably not working, for task reminders, upcoming meetings.
stanislavbabout 3 years ago
For the record - the author considered these two libraries for face detection: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;vladmandic&#x2F;human" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;vladmandic&#x2F;human</a> &amp; <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;justadudewhohacks&#x2F;face-api.js" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;justadudewhohacks&#x2F;face-api.js</a>, he chose &quot;vladmandic&#x2F;human&quot;.
kgartenabout 3 years ago
It‘s important to make the distinction between facial expressions and emotions …<p>A while back we made some glasses with photoreflective sensors to detect facial expressions, got so many requests about using it for emotion detection.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=9PMzpsDg518" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=9PMzpsDg518</a><p>Yet, that’s not what it does … maybe I was just naive and it didn’t help we called it affectiveWear.
simlevesqueabout 3 years ago
Shoutout to the Human library and it&#x27;s creator vladmandic. The library is growing fast.
jackallisabout 3 years ago
Curioulsy, how does one go from BA in creating writing to Msc in computer science?
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kevincoxabout 3 years ago
Just being aware of the expression on your face might be very interesting.
duxupabout 3 years ago
Sometimes I wonder if I might buy into The Matrix &#x2F; Colossus: The Forbin Project &#x2F; our AI overlords if I felt it actually cared about me &#x2F; was whimsical enough ...
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xivzgrevabout 3 years ago
This is fine for when you are a little down. It’s important though to honor real sadness vs trying to cover it up &#x2F; distract.
reaperducerabout 3 years ago
Would love to see a macOS program version of this from the people who did the Christmas lights for the M1 screen notch.
air7about 3 years ago
What would be the advantage of using Pushover vs using notifications from a website via the browser app?
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jwithingtonabout 3 years ago
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to play around with these libraries.
sebowabout 3 years ago
I remember trying somewhat similar a long time ago(I think it was around 2016).I once paused for a bit and realized the long-term effects might be the opposite of the intended one, then I stopped.There are a lot of ways people can learn to both control and embrace their emotions, having a computer in this loop is not one of them.<p>And from what I recall, the actual thing that &#x27;made me happy&#x27; (it was actually more like shortly lifting up the mood) was the fact that the thing worked for a bit, at least superficially.Sentiment analysis is very tricky and easily fooled especially if your (involuntarily) facial expressions are akin of smiling.[Which I believe I &#x27;got&#x27; from my father, it&#x27;s not that uncommon, something related to the need of oxygen] Tl;dr: Try it but don&#x27;t rely on it, humans are one of the things AI won&#x27;t beat nor understand nowhere near the future when it comes to inter-personal relations.
Animatsabout 3 years ago
That should go into one of the virtual girlfriend apps in Japan.
throwaway984393about 3 years ago
But why are we okay with being sad at the computer?
waffle_maniacabout 3 years ago
I really like the idea of a native OSX app that takes your emotions into account and either plays music you like or shows your favorite photos that fade in and out. Something to snap you out of the crap zone.