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134 Socially Intelligent AgentsAffective Social Quest (ASQ) (figure 16.1) consists of a computer, customsoftware, and toy-like objects through which the child communicates to thecomputer. The system synthesizes interactive social situations in order to promotethe recognition of affective information. This system will not tire becauseof impatience and can be a safe place for the child to explore. The goal of ASQis to provide an engaging environment to help children – specifically autisticchildren – learn to recognize social displays of affect.ASQ is an example of affective computing, research aimed at giving computersskills of emotional intelligence, including the ability to recognize andrespond intelligently to emotion [3]. A computer can be taught to recognizeaspects of emotion expression, such as facial movements indicative of a smile,and can prompt people for information related to human emotional state. However,computers are limited in their ability to recognize naturally occurringemotions; they can not easily generalize patterns from one situation to the next,nor do they understand the emotional significance associated with emotion expression.We recognize that some of the problems we face in trying to givecomputers emotion recognition abilities are similar to those therapists face intrying to help autistic children. We expect that progress in either of these areaswill help inform progress in the other.Six emotions that show up universally with characteristic facial expressionsare: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust [2]. ASQ uses fourof these: happiness, sadness, anger, and surprise, potentially displaying theemotion word, icon, doll face and representative video clips. The aim is to offerthe child multiple representations for an emotion, to help him or her generalizemany ways that one emotion may be displayed.Different approaches for behavior intervention are available for autistic children.Many programs use emotion words and icon representations, showingchildren photographs of people exhibiting emotional expressions. However,systematic observations or experimental investigations of specific social behaviorsare few ([1], [5], [4]). Many children with autism are drawn to computers,and can become engaged with off-the-shelf software. Most software applicationsfor autistics focus on verbal development, object matching, or eventsequencing. Laurette software is designed for autistic children to solve ‘whatif’ scenarios and help them decide what the next action in a sequence couldbe. Mayer-Johnson has a "board maker" software tool that combines wordswith its standardized icons (Picture Communication Symbols (PCS)), to helpchildren communicate through pictures (http://www.mayerjohnson.com/).The ASQ system builds on the strengths of autistic children’s visual systemsthrough use of video. Additionally, it incorporates characteristics of the interventionmethods listed earlier. The potential for using affective computing andphysical interfaces in therapy forms the heart of this work.