Reading #31: Identifying emotional states using keystroke dynamics

References:
Identifying emotional states using keystroke dynamics by Clayton Epp, Michael Lippold, and Regan L. Mandryk.  


Presented at the CHI '11 Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference on Human factors in computing systems.


Author Bios:
Clayton Epp is currently a software engineer for a private consulting company.
Michael Lippold is a masters student at the University of Saskatchewan.
Regan L. Mandryk  is an Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan.


Summary:
Hypothesis:
Keystrokes can tell a lot about a persons emotions.


Methods:
Keystrokes were recorded from the users, then a questionnaire was posed to them. They data that was gathered in the survey and the keystrokes of the users were used to determine if there was any relationship between the two.


Results:
It was discovered that there is roughly an 80% chance that they would be able to estimate the users emotions based on keystrokes. Keystroke delay and duration were also factors that were observed in addition to key stroke order.


Contents:
Here the researchers attempt to discern if the users emotional state can be derived from keystroke information. They perform various typing tests and then administer a survey to collect data on the users emotional state.


Discussion:
This has some really cool potential applications. You could use the information to create a program that would change based on how angry, sad, bored you were. This would, i think, create a whole new user experience and could be a very positive impact on the computer industry.