Measuring Affect for the Study and Enhancement of Co-Present Creative Collaboration

Affective computing research has tended to focus on the recognition of emotional states in individuals, with the intention of enhancing human-computer interaction. In this paper we advocate the need for a shift of attention towards emotional communication between people. To contextualise our views we discuss the ways in which rapid technological advances have impacted society and human psychology over the last decade. By outlining our doctoral research topic, we then highlight how affective computing based research could help us understand and enhance co-present human-human interactions. We are especially interested in studying situations where the interaction is directed towards collaborative creativity, as there is little existing work in this area and we see great potential for real-world applications to stem from our research.