Assessing the Efficacy of Empathetic Computing

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, it becomes increasingly more important to understand how technology affects cognition, emotion, and behaviour. This rapid growth of technology has also led to the development of empathetic computing programs with the goal of augmenting people’s lives. It is crucial to discover the practical implications of these systems. This project will focus on analyzing Maslo’s (and the industry’s) empathetic computing technologies through the lenses of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology. The two key questions are: 1) To what degree can the current industry of personalized computing augment human empathy, and 2) What are the best methodologies available to quantify or assess this augmentation? Collectively, this work will inform theories of emotion, attention, and cognition while also impacting empathetic computing design. We will be applying a variety of behavioural measures ranging from interviews to mobile eye tracking.

Faculty Supervisor:

Alan Kingstone

Student:

Oliver Jacobs

Partner:

Maslo Inc

Discipline:

Psychology

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of British Columbia