Importance of the Technology
Affective computing equips computing devices with the means to interpret and understand human emotions, moods, and possibly intentions without the human user's conscious or intentional input of information—similar to the way that humans rely on their senses to assess each other's state of mind. Some 80% to 90% of human-to-human communication is nonverbal. Affective-computing devices will be able to "react," change their operating mode, or alter an element in the surrounding environment in accordance with the state of mind that they detect in a human user. Building systems that detect, understand, and respond to human emotions could make user experiences more efficient and amiable and also increase safety, customize experiences, optimize computer-learning applications, and gather feedback to improve marketing campaigns. Ultimately, affective-computing technology could eliminate the need for devices that today stymie and frustrate users.
Affective computing is an important development in computing, because as pervasive or ubiquitous computing becomes mainstream, computers will be far more invisible and natural in their interactions with humans. People will benefit from affective computing because the technology will make them more comfortable with their use of computers. If a computer could detect that a human user is under stress or is confused or sad, it could react by changing the environment, perhaps changing the user's emotional state. Affective computing has the potential to make public spaces safer: Security applications could aid police and security forces by determining a person's malicious intent before he or she commits a crime—assuming the technology could overcome a minefield of privacy concerns and other legal barriers. Affective-computing technology will reduce the intrusiveness of human-machine interface technology and perhaps make the technology more acceptable to people because of its more natural interactions and its seamless presence in the environment. Corporations could use affective computing to learn about their employees and use this knowledge to run more efficient workdays and gain superior productivity. They may be able to determine when employees are not in the right state of mind to complete their tasks or determine the optimal conditions and most productive situations for each individual. Corporations will want to use affective computing to service their customers better (through better call-center services or phone-free access, for example) and also to gain valuable information about consumers. They will be able to monitor consumers' reactions to commercial advertisements on television (through facial-recognition networked software in the television) and apply that knowledge to improve marketing campaigns. Undoubtedly, we will see much discussion of the pros and cons, not to forget the legalities, of such technology. |
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| Affective Computing Contents |
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Importance of the Technology |
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Recent Developments |
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Airline Seats Detect Nervous Passengers |
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Researchers Look to Develop a Robot That Responds to Human Emotions |
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London Underground Will Use Intelligent Pedestrian Surveillance |
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The Technology in Brief |
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Sensors |
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High-Resolution Cameras and Video Cameras |
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Speech Technologies |
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Affective-Data Analysis |
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Commercial Development Parameters |
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Areas to Monitor |
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Artificial Intelligence |
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Affective-Data Analysis |
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Privacy and Security Issues |
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Human-Computer Interfaces |
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Standards and Interoperability |
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Human Behavioral Studies |
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Nanotechnology |
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Wireless Networks |
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Sensor Ubiquity |
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Cost Issues |
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Wearable Devices |
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Implications of Commercialization |
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Affective-Computing Commercialization |
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Privacy Concerns |
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Increased Industry Productivity |
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Impact on Pervasive Computing |
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A Solution to Information Saturation |
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Applications |
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Security |
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eLearning and Training |
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Alert Systems |
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Entertainment and Gaming |
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Health and Medicine |
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Military Applications |
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Consumer Applications |
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Players |
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Updates |
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