AFFECTIVE INTELLIGENCE - THE MISSING LINK

Scientists have recently learned of many surprising roles played by hu man emotion - especially in cognitive processes such as perception, de cision making, memory, judgement, and more. Moreover, psychologists ha ve redefined human intelligence to include emotional intelligence, esp ecially the ability to accurately recognise and express affective info rmation. This paper suggests that 'affective intelligence', the commun ication and management of affective information in human/computer inte raction, is a key link that is missing in telepresence environments an d other technologies that mediate human/human communication. This pape r discusses new research in affective intelligence, and how it can imp act upon and enhance the communication process, allowing the delivery of the more natural interaction that is critical for a true sense of t elepresence.