Short Course Description

Topics in Affective Computing:

Emotion Modeling, Sensing, Recognition and Expression

Dr. Eva Hudlicka

Psychometrix Associates, Inc.

Blacksburg, VA 24060

Tel: 540 257 3889

e-mail: Hudlicka@ieee.org

psychometrixassociates.com

Course Description:

Affective computing represents a broad, interdisciplinary research and practice area focusing on a range of topics, including:

computational models of emotion effects on perception, decision-making and performance; computational model of emotion generation

via cognitive appraisal; cognitive-affective architectures; affective user models; sensing and recognition of emotions; emotion expression;

and the use of emotions to improve human-computer interaction.

This course provides an introduction and overview of the broad area of affective computing. The course contents and format are appropriate for

individuals in computer science, cognitive science, human factors and psychology.

The specific course topics include the following: (1) overview of the broad area of affective computing; (2) historical overview of the development of

emotion theories; (3) overview of emotion research in psychology and neuroscience relevant to affective computing; (4) overview of specific

techniques and approaches to modeling emotion, focusing on models of cognitive appraisal and cognition-emotion interactions within

cognitive-affective architectures; (5) overview of the roles of emotion in HCI; (6) techniques and tools for emotion sensing and recognition;

(7) user modeling methods and applications; (8) techniques and media for emotion expression; (9) overview of emotion research in robotics;

(10) overview of emotion relevance for team and organizational modeling.

Learning Objectives:

This course should enable the participants to make informed decisions about the appropriateness of incorporating emotion in specific modeling,

HCI or robotic applications, and provide the necessary background for an informed choice of available experimental data, and techniques and

methods for sensing, recognition, modeling and expression of emotions.

Course Format:

The course can be offered in a variety of formats, ranging from a 3-hour half-day tutorial, to a full-week course. Specific topics can be emphasized

or de-emphasized, depending on the specific needs of the audience.

Pre-requisites:

No specific pre-requisites are required. However, familiarity with concepts in AI, cognitive science, and HCI is desirable, including familiarity

with knowledge representation alternatives, inferencing and formal reasoning, and cognitive modeling.

Course Topics and Lecture Schedule

Lecture 1: Overview

Lecture 2: Historical perspectives on emotion

Lecture 3: Emotion research in psychology

Lecture 4: Emotion research in neuroscience

Lecture 5: Affective computing methods and techniques (background)

Lecture 6: Cognitive modeling / architectures (background)

Lecture 7: Models of emotion generation via cognitive appraisal

Lecture 8: Models of emotion effects on attention, perception and memory; Models of affective decision-making biases and heuristics

Lecture 9: Cognitive-affective architectures, agent architectures, and affective user models

Lecture 10: Emotion in HCI

Lecture 11: Emotion Sensing and Recognition

Lecture 12: Emotion Expression

Lecture 13: Emotion and Robotics

Lecture 14: Emotion in Team and Organizational Models

Texts:

Picard, R. (1997). Affective Computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Ekman, P. and Davidson, R.J. (1994). The Nature of Emotion. Oxford: Oxford University Press

A reader consisting of papers from the current literature

Recommended Texts:

Trappl, R., Petta, P. and Payr, S. (2002). Emotions in Humans and Artifacts. Cambrigde, MA: The MIT Press.

Fellous, J-M, and Arbib, M. (2005). Who Needs Emotions? The Brain Meets the Robot. Oxford University Press.

Supplemental Texts / References:

Davidson, R.J., Scherer, K.R., and Goldsmith, H.H. (2003). Handbook of Affective Sciences. NY: Oxford University Press.

Lewis, M. and Haviland, J.M. (1993). Handbook of Emotions. NY: The Guilford Press.

Norman, D. (2004). Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. NY: Basic Books.

Minsky, M. (forthcoming). The Emotion Machine. http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/E2/eb2.htm

Damasio, A.R. (1994). Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. NY: Putnam.

Damasio, A.R. (2003). Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow and the Feeling Brain. Harvest Books.

LeDoux, J. (1996). The Emotional Brain. NY: Simon and Schuster.

Forgas, J.P. (2001b). Handbook of Affect and Social Cognition. Mahwah, NJ: LEA.

Forgas, J.P. Feeling and Thinking: The Role of Affect in Social Cognition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.