Wikipedia User:Morty iMotions/sandbox/iMotions A/S

Summary

iMotions A/S is an IT company that specializes in behavioral research software. The iMotions software is a hardware-agnostic platform that integrates and synchronizes biofeedback sensors, such as Eye Tracking, Facial Expression Analysis, GSR, EEG, and ECG into a single application.

The company headquarters is located in Copenhagen, Denmark with offices in Boston, Singapore, Berlin, and Sydney.

History

iMotions A/S was founded in 2005 by CEO Peter Hartzbech in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has since its inception created a strong position in the field of biosensor research software for both academic and commercial use.

Originally the company only made software for eye-tracking, but over time the software developed into a multi-modal software platform integrating a range of biosensors such as Facial Expression Analysis, GSR, EEG, ECG as well as Eye Tracking.

Shortly after establishing the company, Hartzbech started traveling to the US in order to attract customers and investors interested in biosensor technology which was still up and coming in the mid-2000s.

During a trip to Boston, MA, Hartzbech met the director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, Kenneth P. Morse, and through him, iMotions became a part of companies working out of the Cambridge Innovation Center at Kendall Square and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, where iMotions collaborated with MBA students from the MIT Sloan School of Management as well as frequently engaging in activities at the MIT Media lab. This Boston-based activity precipitated a 2012 decision to establish Boston as the US-based headquarters for iMotions for an increased focus on the North American market.

On August 9th, 2015, the Discovery Channel's show Mythbusters used iMotions Software at the Stanford University Automotive Simulator facility to test a myth about who are the better, but more reckless, drivers, women, or men.

In 2016, 2017, and 2018 consecutively, iMotions was awarded the Gazelle Prize from the Danish financial newspaper Børsen (newspaper). The Prize is awarded to companies that show outstanding growth in a given year.

Technology

The iMotions software is built on modular programming, and it has the ability to integrate several biometric sensors through a series of software modules, with a central interface and analysis module that acts as a connector for the different modules. This multi-modal approach was designed to streamline research projects, which largely had had to rely on recording and analyzing the input from each biometric hardware device separately.

In 2021 iMotions launched a browser and cloud-based service which allows researchers and data collectors to utilize the internet more than previously. With the new online data collection module, researchers gather eye tracking and facial expression analysis data from respondents’ own browsers where they live, work, etc. The Online Data Collection platform features the same number of measurable metrics as the lab-based iMotions Software Suite, but because it relies on standard webcam technology, data collected from it is limited and tend to be of lower quality, so considerations and care should be taken regarding the accuracy, precision, and respondent recruitment/yield.

Partners

iMotions partners with a range of hardware and software developers including; Affectiva (iMotions is currently the only software developer that integrates Affectiva's Affdex SDK in its software ), Tobii, Varjo, Empatica, ViewPointSystems GMBH, and Argus Science among others.