Which expression you dey see? Match face pictures wit happy, sad, vex, fear, surprise, disgust or neutral. E go take about 2 minutes, e free, no sign-up. Na computer-generated faces of people wey no dey exist.
Na Helibrain team write amRobert(English), PhD student for biophysics, don review amDem publish am Dem last review am
Wetin this test to recognize emotion dey measure?
This game dey measure how often the label wey you choose match the expression wey dem intend for a computer-made face picture. Some expressions no too clear, while others strong pass. To recognize expression wey person pose for picture na smaller task pass to understand person for real-life situation: face by itself no dey show person inside feeling reliably [2]. Your score describe these pictures, e no describe all your social ability.
Quick facts
- The task: identify the expression wey dem intend for 21 face pictures.
- The labels: happy, sad, vex, fear, surprise, disgust and neutral.
- Strength: small, medium and strong expressions, plus neutral pictures. These na descriptions, no be psychological units wey dem measure with fixed scale.
- Your result: accuracy, correct choices by expression and by how strong the expression be.
- The pictures: computer-generated faces of people wey no dey exist. No camera, photos or personal information to enter.
How the game dey work
- Wait make the pictures load, then start when you ready.
- Look the face picture. Choose the closest one among the seven labels. Tap button or use the number key wey match am.
- Continue reach the end. The labels go stay for the same place. No speed bonus, and dem no go show answers while you dey play.
- Read the breakdown. If you comot from the tab while you dey play, the attempt go end so you fit start again.
Use clear screen, comfortable light and your normal glasses if you need am. Phone and desktop get the same pictures and scoring, but picture size fit affect how easy e be for you to see expression wey no too clear. Screen reader no fit reproduce this visual task through picture descriptions.
How to understand your result
Accuracy na the share of face pictures wey you choose the label dem intend for. Dem intend matter: na constructed expressions these be, and expression fit look unclear even when the person wey make am get one label for mind. The categories na choices for this game; e no mean say all human emotions fit enter seven boxes.
Each category and strength breakdown get only small number of pictures. Differences between dem fit come from the particular pictures and identities, no be lasting personal strength or weakness. Neutral na category by itself, e no be low-strength version of every emotion. If you repeat the small set, you go get more familiar and practice.
When enough eligible players don finish this version, we go show comparison band of below, typical or above, using other players' first tries for the same version and leaving out flagged tries. Before that time, the result go show how many eligible tries don collect. These visitors no represent the whole population. The band no be score for emotional intelligence or empathy.
Wetin research support and wetin e no support
Schlegel and Scherer short Geneva Emotion Recognition Test dey use both audio and video expressions, with face, body and voice clues, and e cover more kinds of emotions [1]. E be useful example of why recognizing emotion cover more than putting labels on still face pictures. Our game use only still face pictures, and e no be GERT-S.
Barrett and other researchers review the limits of guessing emotion from face movement: expressions dey vary between people, situations and cultures, and the same movement fit serve different purposes [2]. For everyday life, the situation and wetin person tell you matter.
Our computer-made faces no be the research pictures wey dem don validate. We no use research face database or real photographs. We check the pictures by eye for strange marks and the expressions dem intend, but independent people never validate the picture collection and its strength labels. Research norms wey dem publish no apply here.
Questions people dey ask
Na EQ or empathy test be this?
No. E score how your choices match the intended expressions for one set of pictures. E no measure full emotional intelligence, empathy, personality or your ability to understand wetin another person dey think.
Face expression fit tell me how person dey feel?
Face fit give you clue, but by itself e no dey reliably show emotion. The situation, voice, body movement and wetin the person talk about am fit help you understand wetin dey happen [2].
Why fear and surprise dey easy to mix up?
The expressions for this game fit get some things in common, like eyes wey open wide. Pictures wey no too clear get fewer obvious clues. If your choice no match, e show how you label that picture; e no show how well you understand people generally.
The faces na real people?
No. Na computer-generated faces of people wey no dey exist, with expressions wey dem put there on purpose. We no ask you to upload photograph or switch on camera.
I fit compare my result wit friend?
Yes. The share button go make link to the same face pictures and order, together wit your accuracy. Dem no independently verify the score for shared link. Compare for fun, and remember say practice fit change result.
The full result free?
Yes, no account or payment needed.
Other tests wey relate to am
- Test for face memoryLearn faces wey you never see before, then recognize dem among faces wey look alike for two views.
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Cite dis page: Test to Recognize Emotion. Helibrain. 2026. https://helibrain.com/pcm/emotion-recognition-test. CC BY 4.0.
How this test works
This game asks you to name the expression on a face. You see 21 computer-generated portraits of people who don't exist, one at a time, and pick the closest of seven labels: happy, sad, angry, fearful, surprised, disgusted or neutral. Some expressions are subtle and some are strong. There is no clock and no speed bonus. Your score is the share of portraits where your label matched the intended one. Psychology labs have used face-labelling tasks like this since the late 1960s.
Version 1 · Cite this test:
Helibrain (2026). Emotion recognition test, v1. https://helibrain.com/emotion-recognition-test/methods
Sources
- Schlegel K, Scherer KR (2016). Introducing a short version of the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test (GERT-S): Psychometric properties and construct validation. Behavior Research Methods 48:1383–1392. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26416137/
- Barrett LF, Adolphs R, Marsella S, Martinez AM, Pollak SD (2019). Emotional Expressions Reconsidered: Challenges to Inferring Emotion From Human Facial Movements. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 20(1):1–68. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31313636/
How we take make dis page: di Helibrain team write am from di studies wey dem list above, and Robert(English) (PhD student for biophysics) review am on 4 Nọvẹ́mba 2026. We dey update am wen di sources change.