# "Recommendations1.A well-designed affective system will have a set of essential norms, specific to its intended cultural context of use, in its knowledge base. Research has shown that A/IS technologies can use at least five types of cues to simulate social interactions.2.These include: physical cues such as simulated facial expressions, psychological cues such as 1simulated humor or other emotions, use of language, use of social dynamics like taking turns, and through social roles such as acting as a tutor or medical advisor. Further examples are listed below:a.Well-designed affective systems will use language with affective content carefully and within the contemporaneous expectations of the culture. An example is small talk. Although small talk is useful for establishing a friendly rapport in many communities, some communities see people that use small talk as insincere and hypocritical. Other cultures may consider people that do not use small talk as unfriendly, uncooperative, rude, arrogant, or ignorant. Additionally, speaking with proper vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure may contrast with the typical informal interactions between individuals. For example, the latest trend, TV show, or other media may significantly influence what is viewed as appropriate vocabulary and interaction style.b.Well-designed affective systems will recognize that the amount of personal space (proxemics) given by individuals in an important part of culturally specific human interaction. People from varying cultures maintain, often unknowingly, different spatial distances between themselves to establish smooth communication. Crossing these limits may require explicit or implicit consent, which A/IS must learn to negotiate to avoid transmitting unintended messages.c.Eye contact is an essential component for culturally sensitive social interaction. For some interactions, direct eye contact is needed but for others it is not essential and may even generate misunderstandings. It is important that A/IS be equipped to recognize the role of eye contact in the development of emotional interaction.d.Hand gestures and other non-verbal communication are very important for social interaction. Communicative gestures are culturally specific and thus should be used with caution in cross-cultural situations. The specificity of physical communication techniques must be acknowledged in the design of functional affective systems. For instance, although a “thumbs-up” sign is commonly used to indicate approval, in some countries this gesture can be considered an insult.e.Humans use facial expressions to detect emotions and facilitate communication. Facial expressions may not be universal across cultures, however, and A/IS trained with a dataset from one culture may not be readily usable in another culture. Well-developed A/IS will be able to recognize, analyze, and even display facial expressions essential for culturally specific social interaction.3.Engineers should consider the need for cross-cultural use of affective systems.Well-designed systems will have options innate to facilitate flexibility in cultural programming. Mechanisms to enable and disable culturally specific “add-ons” should be considered an essential part of A/IS development.

## Further Resources

• G. Cotton, “[Gestures to Avoid in Cross-Cultural Business: In Other Words, ‘Keep Your Fingers to Yourself!’](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gayle-cotton/cross-cultural-gesturesb
  
• html)” _Huffington Post, _June 13,
  

• “Paralanguage Across Cultures,” Sydney, Australia: Culture Plus Consulting,
  

• G. Cotton, Say Anything to Anyone, Say Anything to Anyone, Anywhere: 5 Keys to Successful Cross-Cultural Communication. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley,
  

• D. Elmer, Cross-Cultural Connections: Stepping Out and Fitting In Around the World. Westmont, IL: InterVarsity Press,
  

• B. J. Fogg, Persuasive Technology. Ubiquity, December 2,
  

• A. McStay, Emotional AI: The Rise of Empathic Media. London: Sage,
  

• M. Price, “Facial Expressions—Including Fear— May Not Be as Universal as We Thought.” _Science, _October 17,
  

• "p.90-91