Affective Computing

Abstract

Computers are beginning to acquire the ability to ex- press and recognize affect, and may soon be given the ability to “have emotions.” The essential role of emotion in both human cognition and perception, as demonstrated by recent neurological studies, indi- cates that affective computers should not only pro- vide better performance in assisting humans, but also might enhance computers’ abilities to make de- cisions. This paper presents and discusses key issues in “affective computing,” computing that relates to, arises from, or influences emotions. Models are sug- gested for computer recognition of human emotion, and new applications are presented for computer- assisted learning, perceptual information retrieval, arts and entertainment, and human health and inter- action. Affective computing, coupled with new wear- able computers, will also provide the ability to gather new data necessary for advances in emotion and cog- nition theory.