Universität Bremen - Dr. Dennis Küster

60 Universität Bremen - Dr. Dennis Küster https://www.uni-bremen.de/csl/institut/team/mitarbeitende/dr-dennis-kuester de Universität Bremen Sat, 17 Oct 2026 08:37:56 +0200 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 08:37:56 +0200 Universität Bremen content-508194 Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:52:00 +0200 About me https://www.uni-bremen.de/csl/institut/team/mitarbeitende/dr-dennis-kuester#c508194 I am an independent research group leader at the Cognitive Systems Lab with a background in emotion science and psychophysiology. My research investigates how humans express, perceive, and interpret emotional and mental states in socially situated interactions. I combine methods from psychology and psychophysiology with affective computing, machine learning, and human–computer and human–robot interaction. A central focus of my work is the measurement and understanding of emotional expression. I investigate how facial expressions, physiological signals, behaviour, and other multimodal cues can be used to characterize emotional states, with particular interest in subtle and spontaneous expressions. This includes the development and validation of new methods for affect sensing, including electromyography (EMG)-based facial action unit recognition and other contact-free or wearable sensing approaches. A major part of this concerns the social and contextual nature of emotion. I study how people perceive and respond to emotional signals from others, how social context shapes emotional expression and interpretation, and how processes such as imitation, emotional contagion, and interpersonal resonance contribute to social interaction. This work also extends to emotionally charged forms of communication, including the study of hate speech and its effects on listeners. A further focus of my work concerns human interaction with artificial agents. I investigate how people perceive and respond to avatars and robots, including how expressive behaviour and perceived internal states influence the attribution of emotions, intentions, agency, and selfhood to artificial agents. This research connects experimental approaches from psychology and psychophysiology with computational models and interactive systems. Overall, my research combines methodological development with experimental investigation of social and emotional processes. My overarching goal is to better understand how emotional signals are generated, communicated, and interpreted, and finally to use this understanding to develop more sensitive methods for studying human behaviour and more socially capable artificial agents. Content content-508195 Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:56:10 +0200 Contact https://www.uni-bremen.de/csl/institut/team/mitarbeitende/dr-dennis-kuester#c508195 Enrique-Schmidt-Str. 5 Cartesium, Room 3.14 28359 Bremen +49(0)421-21864266 <a class="mail" href="mailto:kuester@uni-bremen.de" title="Öffnet ein Fenster zum Versenden der E-Mail">kuester@uni-bremen.de</a> Further Information: <a class="external-link" href="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8992-5648" title="ORCID" target="_blank">ORCID</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7Yjdp9oAAAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;oi=ao" title="Öffnet externen Link in neuem Fenster" target="_blank">Google Scholar</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dennis_Kuester" title="Öffnet externen Link in neuem Fenster" target="_blank">ResearchGate</a>,&nbsp; <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-k%C3%BCster-1768765a/" title="Öffnet externen Link in neuem Fenster" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ComIntDK" title="Öffnet externen Link in neuem Fenster" target="_blank">Twitter</a> Content content-104553 Wed, 04 Mar 2026 23:43:54 +0100 Publikationen https://www.uni-bremen.de/csl/institut/team/mitarbeitende/dr-dennis-kuester#c104553 Content