Emotion sharing via self-composed melodies on mobile phones

In their role as personal communication devices, mobile phones are a natural choice for sharing and communicating emotions. However, their functionalities are currently very limited in power to express affective messages. In this paper, we describe the design of a system that allows users to easily compose melodies and share them via mobile phones. We show that by using these melodies information about the current emotional state of the sender can be expressed and recognized synchronously by the receiver in a simple, quick, and unobtrusive way. Further, we reveal that selfcomposed melodies have a stronger impact than pre-composed or downloaded messages, similar to crafted pieces of art offered to a beloved person. We then present findings from a user study that assesses the implementation of a functional prototype and the adequacy of the system for emotional communication. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.4.3 [Communications Applications]. H.5.2 [User Interfaces]:

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: MHCI
• Authors: Alireza Sahami Shirazi, Florian Alt, Albrecht Schmidt, Ari-Heikki Sarjanoja, Lotta Hynninen, Jonna Häkkilä, Paul Holleis
• Keywords: Human Computer Interaction, Melodies, MHCI 2009, Mobile Phones, Personal Communication Devices