How emotionally intelligent AI can improve the way humans interact

What gave you the idea to work in this area? What problem--or problems--are you trying solve? When I was doing my PhD at Cambridge University, I was constantly using my laptop to communicate with my family back home in Egypt. I realized I was spending more time interacting with technology than with any other human being. And as I communicated with my family, they had no clue how I was feeling except for the smiley or sad face emojis that I could send them.