Human emotion synthesis is a crucial aspect of affective computing. It involves using computational methods to mimic and convey human emotions through various modalities, with the goal of enabling more natural and effective human-computer interactions. Recent advancements in generative models, such as Autoencoders, Generative Adversarial Networks, Diffusion Models, Large Language Models, and Sequence-to-Sequence Models, have significantly contributed to the development of this field. However, there is a notable lack of comprehensive reviews in this field. To address this problem, this paper aims to address this gap by providing a thorough and systematic overview of recent advancements in human emotion synthesis based on generative models. Specifically, this review will first present the review methodology, the emotion models involved, the mathematical principles of generative models, and the datasets used. Then, the review covers the application of different generative models to emotion synthesis based on a variety of modalities, including facial images, speech, and text. It also examines mainstream evaluation metrics. Additionally, the review presents some major findings and suggests future research directions, providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of generative technology in the nuanced domain of emotion synthesis.

Affective computing stands at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI), seeking to imbue machines with the ability to comprehend and respond to human emotions. Central to this field is emotion recognition, which endeavors to identify and interpret human emotional states from different modalities, such as speech, facial images, text, and physiological signals. In recent years, important progress has been made in generative models, including Autoencoder, Generative Adversarial Network, Diffusion Model, and Large Language Model. These models, with their powerful data generation capabilities, emerge as pivotal tools in advancing emotion recognition. However, up to now, there remains a paucity of systematic efforts that review generative technology for emotion recognition. This survey aims to bridge the gaps in the existing literature by conducting a comprehensive analysis of over 320 research papers until June 2024. Specifically, this survey will firstly introduce the mathematical principles of different generative models and the commonly used datasets. Subsequently, through a taxonomy, it will provide an in-depth analysis of how generative techniques address emotion recognition based on different modalities in several aspects, including data augmentation, feature extraction, semi-supervised learning, cross-domain, etc. Finally, the review will outline future research directions, emphasizing the potential of generative models to advance the field of emotion recognition and enhance the emotional intelligence of AI systems.

This research introduces a Positive Reconstruction Framework based on positive psychology theory. Overcoming negative thoughts can be challenging, our objective is to address and reframe them through a positive reinterpretation. To tackle this challenge, a two-fold approach is necessary: identifying cognitive distortions and suggesting a positively reframed alternative while preserving the original thought's meaning. Recent studies have investigated the application of Natural Language Processing (NLP) models in English for each stage of this process. In this study, we emphasize the theoretical foundation for the Positive Reconstruction Framework, grounded in broaden-and-build theory. We provide a shared corpus containing 4001 instances for detecting cognitive distortions and 1900 instances for positive reconstruction in Mandarin. Leveraging recent NLP techniques, including transfer learning, fine-tuning pretrained networks, and prompt engineering, we demonstrate the effectiveness of automated tools for both tasks. In summary, our study contributes to multilingual positive reconstruction, highlighting the effectiveness of NLP in cognitive distortion detection and positive reconstruction.