Chris Creed

Affective interaction: How emotional agents affect users

Embodied agents have received large amounts of interest in recent years. They are often equipped with the ability to express emotion, but without understanding the impact this can have on the user. Given the amount of research studies that are utilising agent technology with affective capabilities, now is an important time to review the influence of synthetic agent emotion on user attitudes, perceptions and behaviour. We therefore present a structured overview of the research into emotional simulation in agents, providing a summary of the main studies, re-formulating appropriate results in terms of the emotional effects demonstrated, and an in-depth analysis illustrating the similarities and inconsistencies between different experiments across a variety of different domains. We highlight important lessons, future areas for research, and provide a set of guidelines for conducting further research.

Psychological responses to simulated displays of mismatched emotional expressions

Embodied agents are often designed with the ability to simulate human emotion. This paper investigates the psychological impact of simulated emotional expressions on computer users with a particular emphasis on how mismatched facial and audio expressions are perceived (e.g. a happy face with a concerned voice). In a within-subjects repeated measures experiment (N=68), mismatched animations were perceived as more engaging, warm, concerned and happy when a happy or warm face was in the animation (as opposed to a neutral or concerned face) and when a happy or warm voice was in the animation (as opposed to a neutral or concerned voice). The results appear to follow cognitive dissonance theory as subjects attempted to make mismatched expressions consistent on both the visual and audio dimensions of animations, resulting in confused perceptions of the emotional expressions. Design implications for affective embodied agents are discussed and future research areas identified.

Using computational agents to motivate diet change

Computati onal agents which make use of behaviour change models have the potential to help motivate people to change problematic behaviour. The importance of emotion simulation in behaviour change agents is discussed, along with an overview of a behaviour change model (the Transtheoretical Model [1]) that computational agents can make use of. Experiments that will investigate these areas further (within a nutritional domain) are then described.

Multi-Touch Tables for Exploring Heritage Content in Public Spaces

Multi-Touch tables are increasingly being used in public spaces such as museums, art galleries, and libraries to help to engage the public and provide access to collections. Designing applications for this type of environment where a wide variety of people can use the table raises unique interaction issues that need to be addressed. This chapter initially provides a detailed review of research studies that have investigated the impact of multi-touch tables in cultural heritage environments. A case study into the design of a touch table application for The Hive (the first integrated public/university library and history centre in Europe) is then presented where we highlight issues experienced and lessons learned during the development process. In particular, we cover requirements gathering, design approaches used, the selection of appropriate content (for a broad user base), installation and maintenance of a table and details of an initial informal evaluation.

User interactions with an affective nutritional coach

This paper investigates how users respond to emotional expressions displayed by an embodied agent. In a between-subjects experiment (N=50) an emotionally expressive agent (simulating the role of a nutritional coach) was perceived as significantly more likeable and caring than an unemotional version. Feedback from participants also revealed detailed insights into their perceptions of the agents and highlighted a strong preference for the emotionally expressive version. Design implications for embodied agents are discussed and future research areas identified.

Synergistic Annotation of Multimedia Content

We describe work in progress toward a new approach for multimedia annotation in which the system and user work synergistically together. This work in progress is particularly focused on enabling journalists to efficiently annotate articles for submission to news agencies. Initial work on gathering user requirements is detailed along with several interesting findings that resulted from this process: capturing mood and emotion is needed as well as descriptive content. Important areas for future research are also highlighted and discussed.

Assistive tools for disability arts: collaborative experiences in working with disabled artists and stakeholders

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the experiences in working collaboratively with physically impaired visual artists and other stakeholders (e.g. disability arts organisations, charities, personal assistants, special needs colleges, assistive technologists, etc.) to explore the potential of digital assistive tools to support and transform practice. Design/methodology/approach – The authors strategically identified key organisations as project partners including Disability Arts Shropshire, Arts Council England, the British Council, SCOPE, and National Star College (a large special needs college). This multi-disciplinary team worked together to develop relationships with disabled artists and to collaboratively influence the research focus around investigating the current practice of physically impaired artists and the impact of digital technologies on artistic work. Findings – The collaborations with disabled artists and stakeholders throughout the research process have enriched ...

The impact of an embodied agent's emotional expressions over multiple interactions

The impact of simulated embodied agent emotion has been explored in short-term studies, but no work to date has examined its impact in longer interactions that involve multiple interactions with agents. We present an embodied agent (Rachael) that simulates a health professional and attempts to help people improve their fruit and vegetable consumption. Emotional and unemotional versions of the agent were developed to examine how user perceptions of the agent changed over an intervention period of 49 days and in turn how this influenced fruit and vegetable consumption. Results found that whilst participants consumed more daily portions of fruit and vegetables over the intervention period and reduced their consumption gains post-intervention, there was no significant difference in consumption gains over time between those who interacted with the emotional or unemotional agents. Qualitative feedback, however, highlighted a strong preference for the emotional agent. A novelty effect was also observed where the agents were perceived more positively initially and less so over time.

Digital tools for physically impaired visual artists

We present work-in-progress that is exploring the potential for visual artists with physical impairments to use new non-intrusive mid-air gesturing sensors to enhance and extend their practice. We highlight the key results from an initial informal user evaluation with two disabled and two non-disabled visual artists examining use of the Leap Motion sensor as an artistic tool. Future work will explore how related technologies can be better utilized to support disabled artists in their practice.

Emotional Intelligence: Giving Computers Effective Emotional Skills to Aid Interaction

Why do computers need emotional intelligence? Science fiction often portrays emotional computers as dangerous and frightening, and as a serious threat to human life. One of the most famous examples is HAL, the supercomputer onboard the spaceship Discovery, in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL could express, recognize and respond to human emotion, and generally had strong emotional skills – the consequences of which were catastrophic. However, since the movie’s release almost 40 years ago, the traditional view of emotions as contributing to irrational and unpredictable behaviour has changed. Recent research has suggested that emotions play an essential role in important areas such as learning, memory, motivation, attention, creativity, and decision making. These findings have prompted a large number of research groups around the world to start examining the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in human-computer interaction (HCI).