PhD studentship in Human-Computer Interaction (starting September/October 2002)

The Department of Information Systems and Computing at Brunel University is offering a funded PhD studentship to investigate whether giving computers the ability to recognise human emotional reactions can improve human-computer interaction. An experimental approach will be taken to establish the extent to which people will naturally express emotions when they know they are interacting with an emotion-detecting computer. The research will also identify the conditions under which the application of emotion detection can lead to improvements in system usability and will provide Human Factors guidelines on the deployment of such technology. [more detail on the project is provided below]

The studentship includes registration fees and a living allowance (not less than £9250 per year including London weighting). The student will be funded to attend several overseas conferences and there will also be the opportunity to undertake paid undergraduate teaching within the department.

Eligibility

Since the studentship is part-funded by the EPSRC, applicants must be eligible for an EPSRC studentship award (see their web site at www.epsrc.ac.uk ).

Applicants should have either a first degree (minimum 2ii) or a Masters degree in one of the following disciplines (or similar):
One or more of the following skills would be highly advantageous:

Applications

To apply please send a detailed C.V. together with the names and contact details of two academic referees and a covering letter to:

Dr Kate Hone
Department of Information Systems & Computing
Brunel University
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB8 3PH

Email: kate.hone@brunel.ac.uk

Closing date for applications: 28 June 2002

Project details

Emotion Recognition for Interaction With Computers (ERIC): a Human Factors Evaluation

Abstract: Emotion recognition technology is currently being developed with the aim of improving the quality of human-computer interaction. Research in this domain emphasises solving the technical difficulties involved, through the design of ever more complex recognition algorithms. But fundamental questions about the use of such technology remain neglected. Can it really improve human-computer interaction? For which types of application is it suitable? How is it best implemented? These questions are not being addressed because of the current state of the technology: the systems are simply not yet good enough to be implemented in realistic applications. This research will overcome this barrier by simulating the capabilities of future emotion recognition technology using the 'Wizard of Oz' approach, which proved so helpful in the early development of systems using speech recognition technology. The research will explore the use of emotion recognition technology from a user's perspective. It will empirically test assumptions about human behaviour which underlie the use of such technology. It will test the impact of emotion recognition on measures of usability and user satisfaction. Such research is vital if emotion recognition technology at the user interface is ever to provide tangible benefits to real users.

Aims and objectives:
The research aims to evaluate the potential for emotion recognition technology to improve the quality of human-computer interaction.

The specific objectives of the research are:
1) to establish the extent to which people will naturally express emotions when they know they are interacting with an emotion-detecting computer.
2) to identify the conditions under which the application of emotion detection can lead to improvements in subjective and/or objective measures of system usability.
3) to provide Human Factors guidelines on the deployment of emotion recognition technology which can help the developers of such technology to meet the needs of real users.

Keywords: affective computing, human-computer interaction, human factors, emotion recognition

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