Affective computing in games

Abstract

Being able to automatically recognize and interpret the affective state of the player can have various benefits in a Serious Game. The difficulty and pace of a learning game could be adapted, or the quality of the interaction between the player and the game could be improved – just to name two examples. This Chapter aims to give an introduction to Affective Computing with the goal of helping developers to incorporate the player’s affective data into the games. Suitable psychological models of emotion and personality are described, and a multitude of sensors as well as methods to recognize affect are discussed in detail. The Chapter ends with a number examples where human affect is utilized in Serious Games.