Affective Computing inside Intelligent Inhabited Environments : Effects of emotional information on the performance of a Fuzzy Agent

Emotions have been perhaps the most underrated human trait of all. They are often used to explain how people act or react as they do and yet in science they do not seem to serve any useful purpose for rational deliberation. At least that was the assumption of researchers from various areas who a few years ago started studying emotions and its relationship with rationality. It has now become evident that emotions play an important role in learning, memory, decision-making, interaction, and motivation. It has been even suggested that the lack of emotional intelligence, i.e., the capability to recognise and utilize emotions, could impair the relationships between humans and their environment. In this paper a study is presented demonstrating the effects of emotional information on the capacity of intelligent agents to adapt to user preferences inside domestic environments. Experiments were carried out over an 8-day period inside the i-Dorm2 which is a self-contained apartment used as a testbed for various software agents paradigms. Preliminary results suggest that an agent incorporating meaningful emotional data into its input array could model user behaviour in a more accurate way than non-emotional or raw-physiological emotional agents. Improved mapping of human activities is of great significance for pervasive computing for it leads to optimal user comfort and enhanced use of resources. Introduction In 325 BC, Alexander III of Macedonia found himself stranded on the top of the wall protecting the capital of the Mallians (modern Multan in Pakistan). The ladder he had used to climb up had broke and just three of his men had been able to follow him after he had taken the lead a few moments ago (he was aware of a growing apathy among his troops and wanted to set an example). But instead of jumping back among his comrades, the king leaped down into the citadel and confronted the enemy alone. A cautious, rational man would have not risked his life as Alexander did. Or at least that is what reasoning tells us. Nonetheless, this does not seem to be an act of utter irresponsibility or reckless audacity but rather a calculated action stemming from the Macedonian awareness of superior military skills and strong inner feelings 1 . Throughout history emotions have provided capable men and women with the fortitude needed to realize their dreams and ideas be it a decision sealing the fate of a country or a scientific endeavour. This combination of cognitive and emotional components is an ingrained part of human thinking and determines the course of our actions and development [1]. However, it is until the nineteen nineties, sometimes known as “decade of the brain” 2 , that researchers from various disciplines provided strong evidence with respect to how emotions influence reasoning in our decisions and also our motivational and learning mechanisms. Neurologists demonstrated that, for instance, emotions sometimes override reasoning in situation demanding quick decisions and immediate actions. They also discovered that affective states are an important neurological regulator of the relationships of humans and their environment and that normal behaviour is greatly disturbed in the absence of such regulators[2-4]. Moreover, the ability to make optimal decisions is highly dependant on the human capacity to identify and utilize emotions, i.e., emotional intelligence [5]. It has now become clear that the emotional and the cognitive are two interrelated, cooperative, inter-dependant constituents of our being rather than separate, incompatible, independent elements. In fact, those researchers still pursuing the path of a purely rational-choice approach in order to develop models of human interaction and/or inference are facing what is called an indeterminate, inadequate theory [6]. A theory becomes indeterminate when it fails to deliver a unique prediction and inadequate when the its predictions are erroneous. The inadequacy of reason applies not only to extreme situations but also to simple, ordinary, everyday life events. For example, a person could choose to turn a light on because of difficulties seeing or because of 1 This anecdote was likely taken from Ptolemy’s accounts of Alexander’s military campaign in India and has been cited by many historians throughout the years. 2 This term is commonly used by researchers after the US Presidential Proclamation 6158, July 17, 1990. Early version of paper published in the Special Issue of Pervasive and Mobile Computing Journal on ``Human Behaviour in Ubiquitous Environments”, Elsevier B.V, Volume 6, Issue 4, 2010 © Essex University 2006 2 anxiety caused by a darkening room, or switch the TV off because of an emotional episode caused by a TV show or simply out of boredom, or stop working due to stress, depression, or extreme happiness or just because it is time for a break. It is apparent that decisions stemming from routine behaviour could be relatively easy to predict or establish; those involving a emotional-bodily components probably not. The view of computer scientists and in particular those working in artificial intelligence (AI), has always been pointing towards a skewed interpretation of rational thinking as a purely cognitive process leaving affective states aside. This has gradually changed and more computing research has been aimed at finding ways of incorporating emotions into artificial information processes. Numerous investigations have been undertaken in areas ranging from human-machine interfaces with emotional content to the development of artificial nervous systems capable of displaying signs of affect [7,8].