Affective Computing and Interaction: Psychological, Cognitive and Neuroscientific Perspectives

Since interactions may occur between animals, humans, or computational agents, an interdisciplinary approach which investigates foundations of affective communication in a variety of platforms is indispensable. In the field of affective computing, a collection of research, merging decades of research on emotions in psychology, cognition and neuroscience will inspire creative future research projects and contribute to the prosperity of this emerging field. Affective Computing and Interaction: Psychological, Cognitive and Neuroscientific Perspectives examines the current state and the future prospects of affect in computing within the context of interactions. Uniting several aspects of affective interactions and topics in affective computing, this reference reviews basic foundations of emotions, furthers an understanding of the contribution of affect to our lives and concludes by revealing current trends and promising technologies for reducing the emotional gap between humans and machines, all within the context of interactions.

Didem Gökçay received her BS and MS degrees in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Middle East Technical University. She finished her PhD in the Department of Computer Science at University of Florida as a Fulbright scholar. She worked as a research assistant in the Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory of the University of Florida Brain Institute for 6 years developing tasks with emotional stimuli and programs for the analysis of psychophysiology and fMRI measurements. Her postdoctoral fellowship was mutually funded by the Salk Institute and University of California San Diego, while she worked at the Research Center for the Neuroscience of Autism on morphology and function of neuroanatomical structures. Currently she is an Assistant Professor at the Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University. She also directs the METUNEURO Laboratory which specializes in MRI and fMRI postprocessing. Her main interest is the interplay between emotion and cognition, and more specifically key anatomical structures such as the anterior cingulate which participate in the underlying emotional processes.

Gülsen Yildirim received her BS degree in the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Middle East Technical University in 2001. She continued her graduate studies in the field of Robotics at the same department. Her research focused on the development and the control of modular exoskeleton robots as well as pattern recognition, machine learning and intelligent control. In the meanwhile, she worked as a research assistant at the Computer Engineering Department of Atilim University. Since 2004, she has been working as an IT professional specialized in software engineering, software management, project management & coordination. Her main expertise areas are mobile game development, online multiplayer games and enterprise systems. Currently, she is project manager and coordinator of Turkish e-Government Gateway Project and she continues her graduate studies in the Cognitive Science Department of Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University. Her current research includes affective computing, affective interactions, face recognition in both humans and machines, pattern recognition, and human-computer interaction.