EMO-Synth The EMO-Synth is an interactive multimedia system where the emotional manmachine interaction plays a central role. During performances and demonstrations the system automatically generates and manipulates sounds and images to direct the user in certain predefined emotional states. The development of the EMO-Synth relies on different techniques stemming from a broad range of domains including artificial intelligence, affective computing, psychophysiology, automatic music composition and sound and image generation. In the current setup emotions are quantitatively measured using biosensors that monitor psychophysiological parameters such as heart rate (ECG or electrocardiogram), stress (GSR or galvanic skin response) and electrooculogram (EOG). During operation the EMO-Synth will subsequently generate audiovisual artifacts and analyze the resulting emotional impact on the user. Using techniques stemming from artificial intelligence like interactive genetic programming and HMM’s the EMO-Synth will try to generate audiovisuals to bring the user in a specific emotional state.
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The concept of the EMO-Synth is based on the link between the apparent rational logical and creative process. Recent technological and scientific experiments have provided mounting evidence of this link. As a consequence more and more opportunities arise for the artist to use scientific systems in his own creative process. I first came into contact with these ideas during a four-year research project I undertook between 2001 and 2005 at the Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music (IPEM, University of Ghent). These were a primary inspiration to start the EMO-Synth project.