New Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building, Sarawak, Malaysia Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia Kuching International Airport, Sarawak, Malaysia Masjid Bahagian Kuching (Kuching Mosque), Sarawak, Malaysia Tua Pek Kong Temple, Sarawak, Malaysia Bako National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia Traditional dance performed at the Sarawak Cultural Village Kek Lapis Istimewa Sarawak (Sarawak layer cake)
IWEC2012
3rd International Workshop on Empathic Computing


September 3-4, 2012
Sarawak, Malaysia
UPDATES
OVERVIEW

Technology has matured sufficiently to tackle problems providing emotional and social intelligence to computing systems. Right now, there is a need for human-centered systems, i.e. systems that are seamlessly integrated into everyday life, easy to use, multimodal, and anticipatory. These systems widen the breadth of users of computing systems, from the very young to the elderly, as well as to the physically challenged. Empathic systems are human-centered systems.

Empathic computing systems are software or physical context-aware computing systems capable of building user models and provide richer, naturalistic, system-initiated empathic responses with the objective of providing intelligent assistance and support. We view empathy as a cognitive act that involves the perception of the user's thought, affect (i.e., emotional feeling or mood), intention or goal, activity, and/or situation and a response due to this perception that is supportive of the user. An empathic computing system is ambient intelligent, i.e., it consists of seamlessly integrated ubiquitous networked sensors, microprocessors and software for it to perceive the various user behavioral patterns from multimodal inputs.

Empathic computing systems may be applied to various areas such as e-health, geriatric domestic support, empathic home/space, productivity systems, entertainment and e-learning. Lastly, this approach shall draw upon the expertise in, and theories of, ubiquitous sensor-rich computing, embedded systems, affective computing, user adaptive interfaces, image processing, digital signal processing and machine learning in artificial intelligence.

On its third year, IWEC focuses on the ambient intelligent, socio-affective context of empathic computing. Empathic systems are relevant essentially because of their capability to infer not only user behavioral states, but also about the context in which the user is involved. Appropriate responses are heavily influenced by the context of its occurrence.

  1. To be a gathering of researchers working on embedded systems and sensor networks, digital signal processing, affective computing and adaptive user interfaces as applied to the problem of developing empathic computing systems;
  2. To be a venue to disseminate forefront research results on the area of empathic computing; and
  3. To generate further interest in the area and its real-world novel application areas.
TOPICS
We are inviting new and unpublished papers on, but not limited to, the following topics: View Call for Papers Back to top
ORGANIZATION
Worshop Co-chairs
Masayuki Numao
The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research
Osaka University
8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka, 567-0047, Japan
+81 6 6879 8426
numao(at)sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp
Merlin Teodosia Suarez
Center for Empathic Human-Computer Interactions
De La Salle University
Room G402 Gokongwei Building, 2401 Taft Avenue, 1004, Manila Philippines
+63 2 524 4611 local 342
merlin.suarez(at)delasalle.ph
Advisory Board
Dirk Heylen
Human Media Interaction
Computer Science
University of Twente, Holland
Toyoaki Nishida
Department of Intelligence Science and Technology
Graduate School of Informatics
Kyoto University, Japan
Catherine Pelachaud
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
CNRS - Telecom Paris Tech, France
Steering Committee
The Duy Bui, Vietnam National University - Hanoi (Vietnam)
Masayuki Numao, Osaka University (Japan)
Ma. Mercedes Rodrigo, Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines)
Merlin Teodosia Suarez, De La Salle University (Philippines)
Program Committee
Eriko Aiba, Japan Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan)
Judith Azcarraga, De La Salle University (Philippines)
Elisabetta Bevacqua, Lab-STICC, CERV - ENIB (France)
Rafael Cabredo, Osaka University (Japan)
Jocelynn Cu, De La Salle University (Philippines)
Iwan Dekok, University of Twente (Netherlands)
Masashi Inoue, Yamagata University (Japan)
Paul Salvador Inventado, Osaka University (Japan)
Akihiro Kashihara, Univ. of Electro-Communications (Japan)
Satoshi Kurihara, Osaka University (Japan)
Roberto Legaspi, Osaka University (Japan)
Radoslaw Niewiadomski, Telecom Paris Tech (France)
Magalie Ochs, Telecom Paris Tech (France)
Isao Ono, Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan)
Noriko Otani, Tokyo City University (Japan)
Dennis Reidsma, University of Twente (Netherlands)
Bui The Duy, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (Vietnam)
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IMPORTANT DATES
Paper Submission Deadline:May 31, 2012 July 15, 2012 (Extended)
Paper Acceptance Notification:August 7, 2012
Camera-ready paper:August 14, 2012
3rdInternational Workshop on Empathic Computing:September 3-4, 2012
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PAPER SUBMISSION AND PROCEEDINGS

All papers should be submitted electronically using the EasyChair conference management tool in PDF format and formatted using Springer's manuscript submission guideline. Submitted papers should not exceed 12 pages. Submitted papers should not be under review or submitted for publication elsewhere during the review period.

Selected papers from IWEC-2012 will be published (as post-workshop proceeding) by Springer in the Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS) Series. Working notes of the workshops (including papers to be eventually published in the joint workshop volume) will be locally printed for distribution on the workshop day.

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REGISTRATION
Please visit the PRICAI 2012 registration page to register your attendance to IWEC2012. Back to top
PROGRAM
Presentation Schedule (Monday, September 3, 2012)
8:00-10:00Registration
10:30-11:00Opening Ceremony
11:00-11:30Modeling Affect and Intentions in Unsupervised Learning Environments
Paul Salvador Inventado, Roberto Legaspi, Rafael Cabredo and Masayuki Numao
Osaka University, Japan
11:30-12:00Modeling the Affective States of Students Using an Intelligent Tutoring System for Algebra
Thor Collin S. Andallaza, Ma. Mercedes T. Rodrigo, Maria Carminda V. Lagud, Rina Joy M. Jimenez and Jessica O. Sugay
Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
12:00-12:30Social Interaction Behavior Improvement System
Khalil Ben Mohamed, Farouq H. Hamed, Tan Sieow Yeek and Dickson Lukose
Mimos Berhad, Malaysia
14:00-14:30Performance Comparison of Single Channel Speech Enhancement Algorithms for Command Recognition in Ambient Intelligence Systems
Thanh Tien Bui and The Duy Bui
Vietnam National University, Hanoi
14:30-15:00Online learning for activity recognition
Cuong Ta Viet and Duy Bui The
Vietnam National University, Hanoi
15:00-15:30A New Approach to Emotional Intelligence Dialog Based Planning
Heba Elbeh and Susanne Biundo
Ulm University, Germany
15:30-16:00Markerless Gesture Recognition in the Context of Affect Modeling for Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Dana May Bustos, Geoffrey Loren Chua, Richard Thomas Cruz, Jose Miguel Santos and Merlin Teodosia Suarez
De La Salle University Manila, Philippines
16:30-17:00Using Sitting Postures to Infer User's Learning and Non-learning States
Anh Mai, Roberto Legaspi, Paul Inventado, Rafael Cabredo, Satoshi Kurihara and Masayuki Numao
Osaka University, Japan
17:00-17:30Real-time Action Recognition based on Infinite Impulse Response filter and Local Binary Pattern
Minh Duc Nguyen, The Duy Bui, Thi Hong Nhan Vu and Thi Nhat Thanh Nguyen
Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Presentation Schedule (Tuesday, September 4, 2012)
8:00-10:00Registration
10:30-11:30Keynote - Application of Functional Neuroimaging on AI Studies: An fMRI Experimental Design
Motoaki Sugiura
Tohoku University, Japan
11:30-12:00Adaptive Music Provision for Computer Users Performing Leisurely and Academic Activities
Roman Joseph Aquino, Joshua Rafael Battad, Charlene Frances Ngo, Gemilene Uy, Rhia Trogo, Roberto Legaspi and Merlin Teodosia Suarez
De La Salle University, Manila
14:00-14:30Estimating Emotions on Music Based on Brainwave Analyses
Yu Yamano, Rafael Cabredo, Paul Salvador Inventado, Roberto Legaspi, Koichi Moriyama, Ken-Ichi Fukui, Satoshi Kurihara and Masayuki Numao
Osaka University, Japan
14:30-15:00EEG-Based Music Emotion Recognition using Regression Analysis
Rafael Cabredo, Roberto Legaspi, Paul Salvador Inventado and Masayuki Numao
Osaka University, Japan
15:00-16:00Panel Discussion

Invited Speaker
Application of functional neuroimaging on AI studies: an fMRI experimental design

Prof. Motoaki Sugiura
Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer
Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan


Background

Motoaki Sugiura is an associate professor at the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. He specializes in functional neuroimaging on human higher cognition, particularly the process underlying the recognition of self and familiar others, autobiographical memory, and decision making in real life. He is also interested in developing these findings for psychology, sociology, and engineering. After graduating from the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in 2000 with an MD and PhD, he filled either research or faculty positions at Tohoku University, Juelich Research Center (Germany), Miyagi University of Education, and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences until 2008. He has published more than 80 papers and was awarded the Commendation for Science and Technology's Young Scientists' Prize by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2010.

Presentation Abstract

Successful application of a functional neuroimaging experiment on AI studies usually requires sufficient consideration of the following two issues. First, a clear research goal or purpose should be set before designing the experiment. It is important to dissociate the following three major research directions: i) technical development of decoding mind from brain activity, ii) using brain activity as an index that is difficult to measure behaviorally, and iii) exploration of the cognitive processes underlying perception and behavior. Second, control conditions should be carefully prepared paying attention to the complexity and automaticity of human cognitive processes. Cognitive tasks are executed by the operation of multiple processes in hierarchical and parallel organization and stimuli may induce unexpected responses, such as those related to affective or social significance, or prediction error. Collaboration with experts of cognitive neuroimaging is recommended.


We will have special sessions on Empathic Computing in the main track of PRICAI 2012. Back to top