Adaptive virtual environments: A physiological feedback HCI system concept

This project aims to design an adaptive dynamic virtual environment, capable of responding to human emotions. Based on the development of a Valence-Arousal-Dominance 'Circumplex' model, a controllable affective virtual medium (a computer game capable of evoking multiple emotions on the users) has been constructed. The project included four phases: 1) Designing a generic game scenario which can incorporate a large set of variables, with potential variable impact on the users' emotional experience; 2) Using an online survey with 35 participants to assess the potential emotional impact of each variable; 3) Designing games with combined variables to maximise their emotional effect. The results were validated using additional 68 participants, who played and emotionally rated their experiences. 4) A physiologically-based experiment has been executed, in which the EEG, GSR and Heart Rate of 30 male and female gamers have been recorded during exposure to the most powerful affective environments, identified in the earlier study. A physiological database, with corresponding processed game events and self-reported emotional experiences, has been constructed to be used in the future adaptive design and evaluation of an affective computing system.