NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute for FY 2012 in New Zealand

Cummings Danielle, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Danielle Nicole Cummings of Texas A&M University to conduct a research project, entitled "Real-time Emotion Visualization for Enhancing Human-to-Human Interaction," during the summer of 2012 at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. The host scientist is Dr. Mark Billinghurst. The Intellectual Merit of the research project involves a highly interdisciplinary combination of Augmented Reality (AR) and Biological Signal Classification in order to create a real-time visualization of the human emotional state. Potentailly such a system could facilitate non-verbal communication and thereby improve human interactions. A system that monitors and displays the emotional state of a person or group of people could have useful applications. Providing visual cues that identify emotions can help facilitate team interaction when direct communication is not possible, or improve basic social skills for people who have difficulty reading facial expressions and/or body language. Broader Impacts of an EAPSI fellowship also include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce.