In a quiet breakfast cafe, on a sunny October morning in Boston, I am watching a gang of five animated emotions control the thoughts of a little girl called Riley. On an iPad screen, the green character called Disgust gears into action, making Riley overturn her plate of broccoli in a fit of revulsion, and I gasp. When Riley’s father tries to pacify her by pretending her spoon is an aeroplane, I giggle. All the while, the iPad is reading my emotions.

‘Emotional engagement: HIGH’, the screen reads, once the 30-second clip of Pixar’s film Inside Out has ended. On a scale of one to 100, I mostly registered high levels of enjoyment, according to the iPad. During the bit where broccoli goes flying everywhere, my surprise levels go through the roof, mixed in with a little bit of dislike.