Automatic detection of a driver’s complex mental states

Automatic classification of drivers’ mental states is an important yet relatively unexplored topic. In this paper, we define a taxonomy of a set of complex mental states that are relevant to driving, namely: Happy, Bothered, Concentrated and Confused. We present our video segmentation and annotation methodology of a spontaneous dataset of natural driving videos from 10 different drivers. We also present our real-time annotation tool used for labelling the dataset via an emotion perception experiment and discuss the challenges faced in obtaining the ground truth labels. Finally, we present a methodology for automatic classification of drivers’ mental states. We compare SVM models trained on our dataset with an existing nearest neighbour model pre-trained on posed dataset, using facial Action Units as input features. We demonstrate that our temporal SVM approach yields better results. The dataset’s extracted features and validated emotion labels, together with the annotation tool, will be made available to the research community

Quantifying the effects of temperature and noise on attention-level using EDA and EEG sensors

Most people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience atypical sensory modality and need help to self-regulate their sensory responses. Results of a pilot study are presented here where temperature, noise types and noise levels are used as independent variables. Attention-based tests (ABTs), Electrodermal Activity (EDA) and Electroencephalography (EEG) sensors are used as dependent variables to quantify the effects of temperature and noise. Based on the outcome of the analyses, it is feasible to use off-the-shelf sensors to recognize physiological changes, indicating a possibility to develop sensory management recommendation interventions to support people with ASD

Psychophysiology in games

Psychophysiology is the study of the relationship between psychology and its physiological manifestations. That relationship is of particular importance for both game design and ultimately gameplaying. Players’ psychophysiology offers a gateway towards a better understanding of playing behavior and experience. That knowledge can, in turn, be beneficial for the player as it allows designers to make better games for them; either explicitly by altering the game during play or implicitly during the game design process. This chapter argues for the importance of physiology for the investigation of player affect in games, reviews the current state of the art in sensor technology and outlines the key phases for the application of psychophysiology in games.The work is supported, in part, by the EU-funded FP7 ICT iLearnRWproject (project no: 318803).peer-reviewe

Computation of emotions in man and machines

The importance of emotional expression as part of human communication has been understood since Aristotle, and the subject has been explored scientifically since Charles Darwin and others in the nineteenth century. Advances in computer technology now allow machines to recognize and express emotions, paving the way for improved human–computer and human–human communications

Guard dogs: sleep, work and the behavioural responses to people and other stimuli

Sleep-wake cycles and the responses to naturally occurring stimuli were studied in 17 guard dogs; detailed video recordings were made of ten of these dogs. The guard dogs came from two different backgrounds: either they lived permanently on-site, or they were commercially owned and regularly brought onto premises, removed before the workers started, and rested off-site at kennels. These two groups were studied to discover any difference in sleep-wake patterns, territoriality and responses to intruders. During 8 h recordings the guard dogs were inactive for 84 ± 17% (mean ± standard deviation, SD) of the time at night, and 70 ± 23% of the time during the day. The dogs had 2.7 ± 2.9 sessions of activity h-1 at night, which was significantly less than during the day when there were 4.2 ± 2.7 sessions h-1 (P < 0.001). The guard dogs barked five times more often during the day (1.06 ± 1.6 barks h-1) than at night (0.2 ± 0.4 barks h-1), (P < 0.001). Of these barking sessions 70% were apparently stimulated by human activity, 29% by activity of other dogs and 1% were of indefinite origin. During the day guard dogs permanently on-site had far more sessions of activity h-1 (5.8 ± 2.2) than commercial guard dogs which were resting off-site (2.1 ± 0.6) (P < 0.025). However, at night, there was no significant difference between the sleep-wake cycles and activity levels of the two groups. When the dogs were guarding premises after business hours, most ( 14 17) rested close (< 15 m) to their front fences yet they were usually out of the obvious view of the observer driving past the guard sites. All but one dog showed aggression towards passers-by, and especially towards other dogs. However, when 14 dogs were directly challenged at their fences, only three held their ground, six barked and then either backed or ran away, and the other five remained hidden. For most of the time spent resting 16 of the 17 dogs lay upon available soft materials such as car seats, cloth or sand. All the dogs that were off-site at kennels during the day ( 4 4) used resting-sites at night within 15 m of their pick-up and delivery points. Of the dogs remaining permanently on-site, four rested at sites provided by their owners and the other nine rested close to where their owners were active during business hours. In order to increase their deterrent value, guard dogs should be provided with suitable housing or materials for resting sites in strategic areas so that they may see and be seen by passers-by