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... the response we often seek is not an answer to a question or a compliance with a request but an appreciation of a show put on. (Erving Goffman, Frame analysis, p. 546)

In the context of HUMAINE, I did research on Emotions in Social Interaction. Sociology tells us that people pursue complex goals in interaction, of which the ãcontentÒ is only a small part. The interplay of interaction and emotion is seen from the viewpoint of ãpresentation of selfÒ (Goffman) and is based on the principle that ãIndividuals create events to confirm the sentiments that they have about themselves and others in the current situation. Interaction with others (re)constructs the shared cultural sentiments but also influences the individualÕs sentiment. It follows that emotions are not by-products, but Ð together with the propositional content Ð the driving forces that influence the process and outcome of the interaction.

For the design of affective human-machine interaction, we have to know much more about the interplay between the affective meaning of social roles (of computers and humans) and the plans that interactants carry out to reach their combined social and material goals.

My work at OFAI in the domain of ECAs and robots has also been concerned with intercultural aspects of human-agent interaction (Agent Culture) and embodied educational agents.