Meet the Real-Life HAL

Would you trust your computer to interact on a deep personal touchy-feely level with you, reading, interpreting, reacting, or storing your emotions? Most of us at some point have had one of those days when we've tried sweet-talking or cussing a malfunctioning computer, but what if the computer apologized? What if computers could sense your emotions and respond appropriately? Yet we are posed on the brink of computers recognizing and responding to users' emotions. An engineering and consulting firm, Design Interactive, reports it partnered with VRSonic to develop an Affective Virtual Environment Training System (A-VETS), a tool that uses "noninvasive" methods of evaluating emotional responses in real time. The A-VETS tool is targeted at military training and research community needs.