Lab for MulTimodal Modelling of Emotion and Feeling

Swiss Center for Affective Sciences

The Laboratory of Multimodal Modelling of Emotion and Feeling (MMEF) conducts a research program centered on computational modelling of consciousness and emotion, both in their subjective and objective aspects. This program is developed along multiple research foci, encompassing psychology, mathematics, engineering, and computer science, and includes experimental, observational, and simulation-based studies.

Research centers on the following main foci

• Development of computational models and artificial intelligence (AI) to explain and predict quantitatively human psychology and behavior (normal and pathological), in combination with experimental approaches. Virtual reality (VR) is used as a shared medium for observing both computer-simulated and human behavior.
• Experimental study of emotion processes, utilizing appraisal theory as a theoretical basis, virtual reality as a method for emotion induction, and multimodal approaches (e.g., physiological recording, subjective self-report) for emotion measurement. This focus aims at testing important hypotheses of emotion theories concerning the causes of emotion, their contents, their time-course, and their overall coherence as psychological states. Virtual height exposure is used to induce intense fear for study.
• Development of virtual reality (VR) tools for the use of psychophysiological experiments. Programmers at the lab develop software (The Virtual Lab) that simplifies and structures the creation of three-dimensional virtual worlds in Unity 3D. This software enables the user to create a sequence of virtual rooms, present stimuli, trigger events, and collect self-report data.
• Applied psychology studies in collaboration with the Police of Geneva. The aim of this focus is to apply emotion-theoretical concepts to real-life situations as experienced by police in the field, centering on virtual reality and emotion regulation as a tool for augmented training.