Authors:

 Scheirer, Jocelyn C.

Title:

 Affect Communication and Expressive Technology

Keywords:

 emotion, affective computing, computer-mediated communication, communication technology

Abstract:

 Imagine a world where objects are the mediating devices for emotion. A pair of glasses transforms expression into animated graphics. A squeezable telephone senses the way it is touched and recreates that sensation on the other end. A performer projects his physiology on a screen for the audience to watch, and in turn can view the impact of his performance on the audience as their growing excitement causes their clothing to glow.

Such prototypes are being built to explore the possibilities for emotional communication through physical objects. The supporting theory borrows from the way artists convey emotion through a chosen medium, often using symbols or other forms of representation, and describes new options for non-artists to creatively communicate emotion. For a non-artist who lacks traditional technique, the available choices for emotional communication are usually more limited. The non-artist must rely on methods of exchange afforded by his biology and culture: language to declare thoughts, and intonation, gestures and facial expressions to add affective context to his words.

Communication technologies have traditionally focused on the pragmatic as well. Yet the potential for technology to act as a translator and mediator of emotion is much richer than this. Instead of considering face-to-face communication as a paradigmatic ideal, technological solutions can transform the affective content of communication. By portraying emotion through aesthetic and symbolic representation, a new nonverbal language for affect transmission can be created. The computational translation of affect into artistic expression therefore gives the non-artist the ability to communicate emotion representationally, but without necessitating a gift for craft.

I will discuss my recent work exploring interactive technology that augments and transforms affective content into representations, through the reification of abstract visualizations, sounds, and aesthetic experiences as "communicative objects". By gathering affective data with sophisticated sensing technologies, and mediating that information through aesthetic abstraction, the possibilities for communicating emotion are redefined. In this paper I will describe efforts to design intuitive mappings, and highlight several projects, including a recent performance with the Boston Pops Orchestra in which the conductor's physiological response drove an abstract visual projection, mediating the performer/audience relationship.
Scheirer, Jocelyn C. rise@media.mit.edu MIT Media Laboratory http://www.media.mit.edu/affect/jocelyn.html Jocelyn Scheirer is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Laboratory, in the Affective Computing Group. She holds a Master's degree in Social/Developmental Psychology from Brandeis University as well as Bachelor's Degrees in both Psychology and English Literature from Tufts University. Ms. Scheirer's past research protocols have examined verbal and nonverbal expression; particularly how these phenomena are manifested in computer and videomediated communication. Her current research explores ways to enhance and augment the communication of emotion through technological artifacts. Ms. Scheirer is also an accomplished visual artist, specifically in the use of water-based media. She has shown her work in the Boston area.