If no one can see you laugh in virtual reality (VR), did it really happen?

A Cornell University research team has developed a device that can be worn as a necklace and tracks facial expressions. The NeckFace uses infrared cameras to capture images of the chin and face from below the neck. It is part of a growing wave of innovations aimed at capturing and expressing emotion in VR.

“Current VR implementations have advantages and disadvantages compared to other forms of remote communication, such as webcams,” Devon Copley, CEO of VR company Avatour, told Lifewire in an email interview.

“For example, body language can be captured and communicated more expressively than through video. But the lack of real facial expressions is a huge loss of communication bandwidth, and these emotion-sensing technologies really have to compensate for that.”