Projects
Projects
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AGENTS
Automatic Generation of Humor for Social Robots
REFERENCE: CMU/TIC/0055/2019
YEARS: 2021-2022
SPONSOR


GOALS:
Humor is an important feature in human communication and is an essential and ubiquitous feature of everyday life. Humor has been linked to numerous positive outcomes. The AGENTS project will leverage the power of humor to create more naturalistic and lifelike interactions with socially embodied agents, in particular, social robots. The positive effect of humor can be increased through the delivery of user-personalized humor in naturalistic settings. In AGENTS, psychological models of humor and its’ everyday functions will be of use when attempting to create a top-down approach of humor that can be modeled to match each user’s preferences, fostering more natural and positive interactions with users. The end-goal of this process will be the implementation of user personalized humoristic interactions in the context of a multi-party interaction scenario with a card game involving more than one human and more than one robot. This is expected to lead to better interaction outcomes and increase the value perception of the robot, by contributing to greater user’s task enjoyment, engagement, and positive emotions.
RESEARCHERS
Ana Paiva (PI; INESC-ID, IST-UL);
Patrícia Arriaga (CO-PI, Iscte-IUL)
Louis-Philippe Morency (Carnegie Mellon University)
Rui Prada (INESC-ID, IST-UL)



PhD students
Raquel Oliveira, João Barreiros,
Sofia Batinha



ECI 4.0: Espaços Comerciais Inteligentes (Smart Commercial Spaces)

GOAL:
Develop and validate a multimodal platform for intelligent analysis of human behavior patterns in commercial areas
YEARS: 2021-2023
PARTNERS


TEAM
AXIANS: Pedro Lourenço (PI), Joana Pereira Coutinho (Project Manager, Axians), João Faria, David Jardim, Rui Calmão.
SONAE MC / WORTEN: Marlos Henrique Silva, Rui Calmão, André Filipe Azevedo, Vitor Dias Sousa
ISCTE-IUL: Luís Nunes, Tomás Brandão, Patrícia Arriaga
Consultancy
SPI - Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação: André Alvarim, Lúcia Neves, José Carvalho
SPONSOR


REFERENCE: PTDC/CCI‐INF/29234/2017
YEARS: 2018-2021
SPONSOR

RESEARCHERS
Teresa Chambel (PI, FCIÊNCIAS.ID),
Patrícia Arriaga (CO-PI, ISCTE-IUL);
Thibault Langlois (FCIÊNCIAS.ID),
Manuel Monteiro da Fonseca (FCIÊNCIAS.ID),
Octavian Postolache (IT-IUL, ISCTE-IUL).
GOALS:
Investigate the emotional dimension of movies, to further provide support for the classification, access, navigation, and visualization of movie collections, not only including previous descriptors (genre, actors) but also emotions expressed in their content and felt by the viewers, during and after watching movies. This holds the potential to increase emotional awareness and empower future users to regulate their emotions when accessing and watching movies.




REFERENCE: 2019-1-IT01-KA202-007541-CUP G35G19000070006 YEARS: 2019-2021
Healthcare clowning is an umbrella term for a wide range of activities clowns undertake in healthcare, ranging from children’s hospitals to old folks’ homes, playing near the bedside, or accompanying medical procedures.

I have conducted several research studies on the role of hospital clowns for children and I was involved in the creation of the International Network of HEALTHCARE CLOWNING RESEARCH (HCRI+), which is dedicated to the scientific study of healthcare clowning. Our network of researchers included partners from Portugal (Iscte-IUL, Minho University), Spain, Brazil, Italy, and the Netherlands).
H-CRIN+’s mission is to promote the scientific study of healthcare clowning by testing multidisciplinary theoretical approaches that contribute to a better understanding of healthcare clowning interventions. It also aims to identify the best practices in this area.
The Health Care Clowning Pathways project is a Strategic Partnership supporting innovation in the Educational and Vocational Training Sector (VET) for Health Care Clowns.
GOALS: design, test, and validate an innovative training proposal, aimed at defining the competencies requested to work as Healthcare Clown in a sharing and transferable manner at the European level; proposing the European level training standards to obtain the qualified profession as Healthcare Clown, referring to ECVET and EQF Systems.


REFERENCE: PTDC/EEI-SII/7174/2014
YEARS: 2016-2019
RESEARCHERS
Ana Paiva (PI, INESC-ID), Patrícia Arriaga (CO-PI, ISCTE-IUL), Francisco Melo (INESC-ID), Iolanda Leite (Department of Robotics, Perception and Learning, Royal Institute of Technology, Suécia).
SPONSOR

GOALS:
Investigate the role of emotions and adaptation in interactions between a robot and a group of users, contrasting to the typical one-robot oneuser paradigm in HumanRobot Interaction (HRI). Despite the complex social challenges that longterm HRI will soon bring, so far little is known about how perception and action selection systems, typically designed for one-to-one interactions, will perform in multiparty settings. We addressed the issue of social adaptation for robots in group settings focusing on computational modeling of emotions.
Emotions play a critical role in HRI for the establishment of social interactions between one robot and one user, in particular the role of empathy. The research was developed to verify whether similar results hold when aiming for longer-term social interactions, and when the robot is in the presence of a group of people.
SPONSOR


Mobile application
(physical therapist)
REFERENCE: PTDC/DTP-DES/6776/2014
YEARS: 2016-2019




RESEARCHERS
Octavian Adrian Postolache (PI), Gabriela Postolache ((Instituto de Medicina Molecular e Instituto de Telecomunicações), Luísa Lima, Patrícia Arriaga, André P. Catarino (Univ. Minho), António Carmo, Mguel Dias Pereira (Escola Superior de Tecnologia, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal), Pedro Girão (Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa), Raul Silva Oliveira (Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, UL), Rita Cordovil (Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, UL), Rui Miguel Madeira, Vítor M. R. Viegas (Escola Superior de Tecnologia, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal)
Information System (IS) offers much promise to improve information management for physiotherapists, to improve clinical and administrative reporting capabilities, operational efficiency, communication among health professionals, communication with patients, data accuracy, and the capacity to support clinical research. However, the key factor for the success of healthcare information system implementation and adoption is the engagement of the end-user.

Kinect Serious Game (patient)

GOALS:
A tailored information system was proposed in this project, enable to non-invasively/unobtrusively measure balance and movements, and to improve the effectiveness of physiotherapy based on serious games and augmented reality. Wireless body sensors network (WSN) were developed for better balance and movements’ characterization. Usability tests of tailored virtual environments for physiotherapy were carried out, as well usability tests of information systems developed for physiotherapy practice based on implemented WSN, serious game, and augmented reality.
The system aimed to improve the effectiveness of physiotherapy and to enable measuring additional constructs to enhance more comprehensive clinical reasoning processes (i.e., motor control, determinants for behavioral change, and patient engagement).
Playing with violence: emotional desensitization, empathy and helping behaviour toward victims of violence
REFERENCE: PTDC/PSI-PSO/099985/2008
YEARS: 2010-2013
RESEARCHERS
Patrícia Arriaga (PI, Iscte-IUl), Francisco Esteves, Maria Benedicta Monteiro (Iscte-IUL), Augusta Gaspar (Universidade Católica) & Jaime Vila (Granada University, Spain).

PLAYING with Violence
The effects of violent computer games with virtual reality on physiological arousal, cognitions, affect and behaviour
REFERENCE: PT/FB/BL-2002-011
YEARS: 2002-2006
RESEARCHERS
Patrícia Arriaga (PI); Francisco Esteves;
& Paula Carneiro
SPONSORS:


GAMES WITH VIRTUAL REALITY

Emotional Empathy
Interindividual differences in Emotional Empathy vs. the differential “visibility” of Emotions, and its social consequences
REFERENCE: PTDC/PSI-PCO/104170/2008
YEARS: 2010-2013

SPONSOR

RESEARCHERS
Augusta Gaspar (PI, Univ. Católica de Lisboa), Francisco Esteves (Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden); Patrícia Arriaga, Frederico Oliveira de Almada (ISPA), Miquel Llorente Espino (University Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Espanha), Susana Fonseca (ISCTE/IUL, Portugal), Olga Feliu Olleta (Mona Foundation, Barcelona)
Emotions comprise observable behaviors that can be potentially decoded by bystanders as signals of the respective emotions. Although the efficiency of such decoding has been assumed to be high for a number of Emotional Facial Expressions (EFE), correct appraisals of EFE depend on a number of factors, including maturation and experience, physiognomy and individual dynamics of facial action, the familiarity between actor and observer and context.
GOALS:
By studying a wider scope of emotions we expected to identify more grades of Emotional Empathy (EE), and to be able to establish an efficient protocol for early detection of Low and High EE in nonclinical populations. We addressed an old theoretical discussion of the evolution of signal and response, and specifically “what do facial expressions express?”. We have suggested earlier that individual variation in the display of emotion is related to cost of signaling and advantages of the actor in conveying information about intentions, proximal action tendencies, and other personal and interactive relevant information, and most of all to the “interactive” nature of the given emotion. We anticipate that receivers should be more convergent in their decoding of the interactive/visible emotions, whereas other emotions should reveal larger interindividual differences. We aim to investigate if and to what extent EE allows highly empathic individuals to perform better overall at decoding perceived emotional stimuli, especially at overcoming the “low visibility” of certain EFE.

Control of cognitive and emotional processing of faces the frontal theta rhythm




REFERENCE: PT/FB/BL-2010-157
YEARS: 2011-2014
SPONSORS:

RESEARCHERS
Alberto Leal (PI, Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa), Patrícia Arriaga, Ricardo Lopes (CADIn), & Francisco Esteves (Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden),
The visual processing of faces plays a major role in the inter-personal relationships in humans and, consequently, the brain dedicates a lot of resources to this task. Besides the contribution of multiple posterior brain cortical areas, there is functional connectivity to the frontal lobes, which is likely to be related to high-level functions such as attention, memory, emotion, error monitoring. Several studies have demonstrated significant functional covariances at a distance, which seem to implicate synchronization between the cortical rhythms of the different areas. The limbic theta rhythm has gained particular prominence as a possible synchronizing mechanism between distant areas, despite the fact that no strong causal relationship between this rhythm and the functions that are attributed to it has been demonstrated. Specifically, it has not been possible to demonstrate that the association between EEG brain rhythms and the information processing taking place in the same cortical area is a causal one, not an epiphenomenon. To give an experimental response to the last point, studied the functional connectivity between the frontal lobe and the posterior brain areas
involved in the visual processing of faces, with a special emphasis on the theta rhythm. Experimental modulation of the frontal lobe theta rhythm was performed using TMS, and the resulting effects in the processing of faces determined. The effect of placebo will be controlled by using a similar protocol but with sham TMS. We aim to characterize the role played by the frontal lobe theta rhythm in several aspects of the visual processing of faces.

Psychophysiological effects of human PHEROMONES
REFERENCE: PT/FB/BL-2006-125
YEARS: 2007-2010
SPONSORS:

RESEARCHERS
Francisco Esteves (PI, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden), Patrícia Arriaga, Mats Olsson (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden); Johan Lundström (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden); Pedro Barbas Albuquerque (Minho University); Maria Benedicta Monteiro; Paula Carneiro
Pheromones are airborne chemical signals produced by an individual of a species that trigger neuroendocrinal responses underlying behavior, or development in another individual of the same species. Although their existence is well documented in many animal species, the empirical evidence for their existence in humans is scarce and controversial. Nevertheless, few examples of studies showed some effects of human pheromones. For example Stern and McClintock (1998) showed that human axilatory sweat from female donors could change the menstrual cycle of women exposed to that sweat, depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle of the donors. Using a steroid that has been isolated from the human skin, androstadienone, Lundström, Gonçalves, Esteves & Olsson (2003), obtained positive mood changes in women after exposure to androstadienone. Lundström, Larsson, and Olsson (2001) also obtained a decrease in skin temperature in women exposed to androstadienone when compared to a control substance, but interestingly only in the presence of a male experimenter. Summing up, although human pheromones have been studied for some time, sound scientific proof of their effects is still needed.


GOALS:
Investigate the emotional effects of exposure to a putative human pheromone androstadienone using psychophysiological measures and verbal affective ratings. Several experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of androstadienone on: 1) non-verbal flirt behavior in a controlled social-interaction situation; psychophysiological measures (heart rate, skin conductance, startle reflex modulation) and mood changes.

Psychophysiology of EMOTIONS
Psychophysiology of emotions: Nonconscious learning
REFERENCE: PT/FB/BL-1998-44
YEARS: 1999-2002
SPONSORS:



RESEARCHERS
Francisco Esteves (PI, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden),
Patrícia Arriaga, Paula Carneiro, & Anders Flykt (Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden)

On KAMA MUTA, Being Moved and Crying
RESEARCHERS
Beate Seibt (University of Oslo), Thomas Schubert (University of Oslo), Alan Fiske (University of California, Los Angeles), Janis Zickfeld (Aarhus University, Denmark), Patrícia Arriaga... et al.




Watch this video by VOX in which the topic of crying (and its interplay with being moved) is presented by the main researchers working in this field
Recent publications include:
Zickfeld, J. H. et al.. (2021). Tears Evoke the Intention to Offer Social Support: A Systematic Investigation of the Interpersonal Effects of Emotional Crying Across 41 Countries. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104137
Zickfeld, J. H., Arriaga, P., Santos, S. V., Schubert. T., & Seibt, B., (2020). Tears of joy, aesthetic chills, and heartwarming feelings: Physiological correlates of Kama Muta. Psychophysiology, 57 (12). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13662
Zickfeld, D. H., Schubert, T. W., Seibt, B., Blomster, J. K., Arriaga, P., et al. (2019). Kama Muta: Conceptualizing and measuring the experience of being moved across 19 nations and 15 languages. Emotion, 19 (3), 402-424. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000450
Seibt, B., Schubert, T. W., Zickfeld, J. H., Zhu, L., Arriaga, P., Simão, C., Nussinson, R., Fiske, A. P. (2018). Kama Muta: Similar emotional responses to touching videos across the US, Norway, China, Israel, and Portugal. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(3) 418–435. Https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117746240.
Arriaga, P., Murteira, C., & Oliveira, R. (2019). Adults’ responses to children’s crying after a moral transgression. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 22, e15, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2019.21