Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

The Communication of Meaningful Emotional Information for Children Interacting with Virtual Actors

  • Chapter
Affective Interactions (IWAI 1999)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1814))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 1134 Accesses

Abstract

In a virtual environment where users can interact with agents, the way in which the agent displays its internal emotional state and what the user infers from this display is central to effective affective communication. Given the reliance on visual expression of emotion in current VR Systems, any differences between children and adults in the way such information is utilised and perceived raises interesting design issues in relation to the experience and age of the user. Here we discuss some of these issues in relation to the PUPPET project, where the goal is to provide a virtual play environment, using a theatre metaphor, to enable young children’s (4-8 years old) story construction. This paper first presents a summary of previous research that demonstrates the special meaning that young children place on facial expressions when gathering information about emotion. Three empirical studies are presented that explore these issues using prototypes of our system. Some design solutions are suggested in conjunction with directions for future empirical work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bruce, V.: Recognising Faces. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Camras, L.A., Allison, K.: Children’s understanding of emotional facial expressions and verbal labels. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 8, 15–38 (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cole, J.: About Face. MIT Press, Cambridge (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Elliot, C.: Research Problems in the Use of a Shallow Artificial Intelligence Model of Personality and Emotion. In: Proceedings of the 12th National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, vol. 1, pp. 9–15. AAAI Press, Menlo Park (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ekman, P.: Pictures of facial affect. Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Ekman, P., Friesen, M.V.: Facial action coding system: a technique for the measurement of facial movement. Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ekman, P., Friesen, W.V., Ellsworth, P.: What are the similarities and differences in facial behaviour across cultures? In: Ekman, P. (ed.) Emotion in the human face, 2nd edn., pp. 128–144. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ellis, H.D.: Developmental trends in face recognition. The Psychologist: Bulletin of the British Psychological Society 3, 114–119 (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Fleming, B., Dobbs, D.: Animating Facial Features and Expressions. Charles River Media, Inc., Rockland (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  10. de Gelder, T.B.: Categorical perception of facial expressions: categories and their internal structure. Cognition and Emotion 11(1), 1–23 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. George, P.A., Hole, G.J.: Recognising the ageing face: the role of age in face processing. Perception 27, 112–134 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  12. George, P.A., Hole, G.J.: Factors influencing the accuracy of age-estimates of unfamiliar faces. Perception 24, 1059–1073 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. George, P.A., Scaife, M., Hole, G.J.: Factors influencing young children’s ability to discriminate unfamiliar faces by age. International Journal of Behavioural Development (2000) (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gnepp, J.: Children’s social sensitivity: inferring emotions from conflicting cues. Developmental Psychology 19, 805–814 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Harrigan, I.: The effects of task order on children’s identification of facial expressions. Motivation and Emotion 8, 157–169 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Humphreys, G.W., Donnelly, N., Riddoch, M.J.: Expression is computed separately from facial identity, and it is computed separately for moving and static faces: Neuropsychological evidence. Neuropsychologia 31(2), 173–181 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Iannotti, R.J.: Effect of role-taking experiences on role taking, empathy, altruism and aggression. Developmental Psychology 14, 119–124 (1978)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Leslie, A.M.: Pretence and representation: the origins of “theory of mind”. Psychological Review 94, 412–422 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Markham, A.: The effect of type of task on children’s identification of facial expressions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 16, 21–39 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Markham, R., Wang, L.: Recognition of emotion by Chinese and Australian children. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 27(5), 616–643 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Michalson, L., Lewis, M.: What do children know about emotions and when do they know it? In: Lewis, M., Saarni, C. (eds.) The socialization of emotions, pp. 117–139. Plenum Press, New York (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Pitcairn, T.: Origins and processing of facial expression. In: Young, A., Ellis, H. (eds.) Handbook of research on face processing, pp. 71–76. Elsevier, Amsterdam (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Quasthoff, U.M.: An interactive approach to narrative development. In: Bamberg, M. (ed.) Narrative Development: Six Approaches. Lawrence Erlbaum, London (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Markham, R., Wang, L.: Recognition of emotion by Chinese and Australian children. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 27(5), 616–643 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Reichenbach, I., Masters, J.: Children’s use of expressive and contextual cues in judgements of emotion. Child Development 54, 102–141 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Singer, J.L.: Imaginative play and adaptive development. In: Goldstein, J.H. (ed.) Toys, Play and Child Development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Stevenage, S.: Expertise and the caricature advantage. In: Valentine, T. (ed.) Cognitive and Computational Aspects of Face Recognition: Exploration in face space. Routledge, London (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Tremblay, C., Kirouac, G., Dore, F.: The recognition of adults and children’s facial expressions of emotion. Journal of Psychology 121, 341–350 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Valentine, T.: A unified account of the effects of distinctiveness, inversion and race on face recognition. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 43(A), 161–204 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Vinden, P.G.: Children’s understanding of mind and emotion: A multi-culture study. Cognition and Emotion 13(1), 19–48 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Vygotsky, L.S.: The role of play in development. In: Cole, M., John-Steiner, V., Scribner, S., Souberman, E. (eds.) Mind in Society. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1978)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interactive Media & Virtual Environment Lab, School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences, The University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK

    Pat George & Malcolm McIllhagga

Authors
  1. Pat George
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Malcolm McIllhagga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. INESC-ID, IST, Taguspark, Av. Prof. Dr. Cavaco Silva, 2744-016, Porto Salvo, Portugal

    Ana Paiva

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

George, P., McIllhagga, M. (2000). The Communication of Meaningful Emotional Information for Children Interacting with Virtual Actors. In: Paiva, A. (eds) Affective Interactions. IWAI 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 1814. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/10720296_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/10720296_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-41520-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44559-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics