67,842 research outputs found
Empathy at Play:Embodying Posthuman Subjectivities in Gaming
In this article, we address the need for a posthuman account of the relationship between the avatar and player. We draw on a particular line of posthumanist theory associated closely with the work of Karen Barad, Rosi Braidotti and N. Katherine Hayles that suggests a constantly permeable, fluid and extended subjectivity, displacing the boundaries between human and other. In doing so, we propose a posthuman concept of empathy in gameplay, and we apply this concept to data from the first authorâs 18-month ethnographic field notes of gameplay in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. Exploring these data through our analysis of posthuman empathy, we demonstrate the entanglement of avatarâplayer, machineâhuman relationship. We show how empathy allows us to understand this relationship as constantly negotiated and in process, producing visceral reactions in the intra-connected avatarâplayer subject as well as moments of co-produced in-game action that require âaffective matchingâ between subjective and embodied experiences. We argue that this account of the avatarâplayer relationship extends research in game culture, providing a horizontal, non-hierarchical discussion of its most necessary interaction
Theory of Robot Communication: II. Befriending a Robot over Time
In building on theories of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), Human-Robot
Interaction, and Media Psychology (i.e. Theory of Affective Bonding), the
current paper proposes an explanation of how over time, people experience the
mediated or simulated aspects of the interaction with a social robot. In two
simultaneously running loops, a more reflective process is balanced with a more
affective process. If human interference is detected behind the machine,
Robot-Mediated Communication commences, which basically follows CMC
assumptions; if human interference remains undetected, Human-Robot
Communication comes into play, holding the robot for an autonomous social
actor. The more emotionally aroused a robot user is, the more likely they
develop an affective relationship with what actually is a machine. The main
contribution of this paper is an integration of Computer-Mediated
Communication, Human-Robot Communication, and Media Psychology, outlining a
full-blown theory of robot communication connected to friendship formation,
accounting for communicative features, modes of processing, as well as
psychophysiology.Comment: Hoorn, J. F. (2018). Theory of robot communication: II. Befriending a
robot over time. arXiv:cs, 2502572(v1), 1-2
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Predicting Empathy From Resting State Brain Connectivity: A Multivariate Approach.
Recent task fMRI studies suggest that individual differences in trait empathy and empathic concern are mediated by patterns of connectivity between self-other resonance and top-down control networks that are stable across task demands. An untested implication of this hypothesis is that these stable patterns of connectivity should be visible even in the absence of empathy tasks. Using machine learning, we demonstrate that patterns of resting state fMRI connectivity (i.e. the degree of synchronous BOLD activity across multiple cortical areas in the absence of explicit task demands) of resonance and control networks predict trait empathic concern (n = 58). Empathic concern was also predicted by connectivity patterns within the somatomotor network. These findings further support the role of resonance-control network interactions and of somatomotor function in our vicariously driven concern for others. Furthermore, a practical implication of these results is that it is possible to assess empathic predispositions in individuals without needing to perform conventional empathy assessments
Sharing emotions and space - empathy as a basis for cooperative spatial interaction
Boukricha H, Nguyen N, Wachsmuth I. Sharing emotions and space - empathy as a basis for cooperative spatial interaction. In: Kopp S, Marsella S, Thorisson K, Vilhjalmsson HH, eds. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA 2011). LNAI. Vol 6895. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2011: 350-362.Empathy is believed to play a major role as a basis for humansâ cooperative behavior. Recent research shows that humans empathize with each other to different degrees depending on several modulation factors including, among others, their social relationships, their mood, and the situational context. In human spatial interaction, partners share and sustain a space that is equally and exclusively reachable to them, the so-called interaction space. In a cooperative interaction scenario of relocating objects in interaction space, we introduce an approach for triggering and modulating a virtual humans cooperative spatial behavior by its degree of empathy with its interaction partner. That is, spatial distances like object distances as well as distances of arm and body movements while relocating objects in interaction space are modulated by the virtual humanâs degree of empathy. In this scenario, the virtual humanâs empathic emotion is generated as a hypothesis about the partnerâs emotional state as related to the physical effort needed to perform a goal directed spatial behavior
Towards human-centered cyber-physical systems: a modeling approach
In this paper we present a new CPS model that considers humans as holistic beings, where mind and body operate as a whole and characteristics like creativity and empathy emerge. These characteristics influence the way humans interact and collaborate with technical systems. Our vision is to integrate humans as holistic beings within CPS in order to move towards a human-machine symbiosis. This paper outlines a model for human-centered cyber-physical systems (HCPSs) that is based on our holistic system model URANOS. The model integrates human skills and values to make them accessible to the technical system, similarly to the way they are accessible to humans in human-to-human interaction. The goal is to reinforce the human being in his feeling of being in control of his life experience in a world of smart technologies. It could also help to reduce human bio-costs like stress, job fears, etc. The proposed model is illustrated by the case study of smart industrial machines, dedicated machines for smart factories, where we test the human integration through conversation
Designing Women: Essentializing Femininity in AI Linguistics
Since the eighties, feminists have considered technology a force capable of subverting sexism because of technologyâs ability to produce unbiased logic. Most famously, Donna Harawayâs âA Cyborg Manifestoâ posits that the cyborg has the inherent capability to transcend gender because of its removal from social construct and lack of loyalty to the natural world. But while humanoids and artificial intelligence have been imagined as inherently subversive to gender, current artificial intelligence perpetuates gender divides in labor and language as their programmers imbue them with traits considered âfeminine.â A majority of 21st century AI and humanoids are programmed to fit female stereotypes as they fulfill emotional labor and perform pink-collar tasks, whether through roles as therapists, query-fillers, or companions. This paper examines four specific chat-based AI --ELIZA, XiaoIce, Sophia, and Erica-- and examines how their feminine linguistic patterns are used to maintain the illusion of emotional understanding in regards to the tasks that they perform. Overall, chat-based AI fails to subvert gender roles, as feminine AI are relegated to the realm of emotional intelligence and labor
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