Dr. Dennis Küster
About me
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.
Current Projects
DFG: The Cognitive Control of Social Resonance (CCSR)
DFG: Hate Speech: From automatic classification to understanding emotional dynamics
Minds, Media, Machines Seed Grant Project: Creating Facial Expressions for Avatars Based on Affective Prosody (PIs: Rainer Koschke, Tanja Schultz). For information on MMM Seed Grants, please have a look at the Minds, Media, Machines Website!
Contact
Enrique-Schmidt-Str. 5
Cartesium, Room 3.14
28359 Bremen
+49(0)421-21864266
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Further Information:
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