DiO launches AI platform to measure audiences’ emotions

DiO has launched a Ai-powered biometric creative insight platform, which measures the emotional response to films, TV shows, adverts and games, out of private beta. 

The DiO platform uses its proprietary i4 AI platform, combining facial coding, biometrics, and electrodermal activity, with a PressPlay audience panel, to try and capture audiences’ conscious and subconscious response to their viewing experiences. This can then be mapped moment-by-moment, scene-by-scene, to commercial outcomes. 

DiO has been co-founded by film/TV producer from Mad As Birds Films, Ade Shannon, who becomes CEO, and senior strategist in several market-leading agencies, including Amaze and TH_N, Rick Curtis, who is CTO. Clare Smith, formerly VP of strategy at Liverpool FC, is managing director, Derren Seqeuira, founding member of Meta’s international team, is chief commercial officer, and Tanya Easterman, who has worked at the likes of ODEON Cinemas Group/AMC, Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures, is chief marketing officer. 

Simon Morris, founder of LoveFilm and former Amazon chief creative officer, becomes chair of the business and will work alongside Shannon and Curtis, and Professor Stephen Fairclough has joined as its head of innovation, bringing over 30 years of applied research on psychophysiology and neuroscience. DiO also has a long-standing relationship with Hartree Centre in Liverpool, one of Europe’s largest multidisciplinary scientific research organisations. 

DiO’s first industry partnership is with post-production house Molinare Creative Group, and Molinare CEO Nigel Bennett said: “Molinare has always been at the forefront of technological and workflow efficiencies, to better serve filmmakers in bringing their stories to life. This partnership will allow our clients and creatives to leverage DiO’s transformative approach to audience insight, ensuring testing is no longer seen as a necessary evil but a valuable addition to their creative toolkit.”

The distribution arm of Picturehouse, Picturehouse Entertainment, is another early client, and its director of marketing and distribution Sara Frain said: “We were excited to use DiO’s unique emotional response analysis as it helped us hone-in on and refine our strategy, optimising our marketing budget to reach the right audience and exceed box office expectations.”

Shannon added: “Within any creative endeavor there is a tension between art and commerce, but I have never believed they are mutually exclusive. The problem has been the tools used to guide creative decisions. I get lots of feedback that this process has often felt like creatives are ‘having their homework marked’ with their work being given a ‘score’ that’s just far too reductive. 

“It’s enormously frustrating for the complex relationship between art and audience to be boiled down to just one thing. It’s not just about eyeballs on screen or attention, this is about understanding how people really feel. DiO solves this by decoding the silent emotional reactions we all make, validating a creative’s intuition to maximise commercial success. Whilst our roots are in film and media, we’re on a mission to empower creativity everywhere.”