Sentiment-analysis tools will be able to read the emotions and feelings expressed in blogs and comments posted by users.

Internet users often post blogs and comments on the Web to be read by others. Software agents like search engine spiders and spambots that roam the Web merely read Web pages but fail to understand the feelings expressed in the content.

However, very soon there will be an agent that will be capable of understanding the emotional content of what users write. And that agent is expected to soon arrive at your desktop.

These ‘sentiment analysis' tools are part of a wider area of computer science that's engaged in trying to teach computers to understand the emotions expressed in text, the way humans do. The commercial applications of such technology can be gauged by how some companies are affected by customer blogs as much as advertising campaigns, reports New Scientist.

There are companies like Sentimine, Adaptive Semantics and Lexalytics, which are already using the ‘sentiment-aware' software that gauges emotional responses brought about by the company or its products.

Right now, sentiment-analysis tools are only available to big corporations, but soon they are expected to be widely available at cheaper prices or even for free.

For further information, log on to http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17101-innovation-computers-to-keep-our-emotions-in-check.html.