MindTrace uses facial coding to identify responses to stimuli including packaging, marketing communications, displays or websites.

Founded in 2016 by neuroscientists Dr. Adjmal Sarwary and Dr. Ivar Clemens, the firm’s technology has been used by brands including Lufthansa and Mercedes-Benz.

Through the partnership, brand owners and retailers will be able to share brand assets for testing. Participants from ‘approved research panels’ will take part at home, where their webcam is used to collect data on eye-tracking, facial expressions and heart rate to measure subconscious responses to the content.

Jamie Rayner, director at Touchstone and managing director at Shoppercentric (pictured), said the companies have been working together for the past nine months to "remove questions that take participants out of their System 1 thinking".

He added: "This is a significant step forward in bringing our clients closer to understanding core human behaviour and what truly resonates with today’s shoppers, consumers and visitors. This partnership means we can provide brand owners, retailers and the advertising industry with significantly more intelligence, grounded in reality and free of bias."

Sarwary, chief executive at MindTrace, said: "Even though these measures are well-known in the neuroscience industry, their wider commercial adoption has been hindered by practicality. Our new technology however, makes it possible to fit into the budget and timelines of every client."