Conductive Chat is an instant messenger client that incorporates your GSR (galvanic skin response) into the text you type, resulting in a text-based conversation enhanced with your emotional arousal.

This project began as a class project with Andrew Fiore and Vidya Lakshmipathy for Roz Picard's Affective Computing Seminar (Spring '02). The details of the technology and our initial impressions of the application are captured in our project description. Since the initial build of the application, Andrew has used the concept to build Affective Circles. I have continued using the original application as a platform for studying how affective information can influence how individuals communication and make decisions.

The Application

Below is a screenshot of the application. The basic idea is the more excited you are, the redder your text. If there is a sudden jump in your excitement level, the font size jumps up.

Behavioral Study

I ran a behavioral experiment where I put eleven pairs of subjects into task scenarios and compared their task performance while using Conductive Chat and a traditional IM client. With very little explanation, here is a webpage which presents the study's hypotheses and preliminary findings. A complete write-up of the findings will appear soon.

Next Steps....

Now that the behavorial study is complete, I am working towards developing a new application which still uses the idea of incorporating emotional information into communication but is influenced by the lessons learned from the study. This new application will: