New visions of human-computer interaction: Making affect compute

Looking at the intersection of cognition, emotion, computing, and context reveals various historical gaps that are important to understand in order to progress in applying affective computing technologies to real-world problems involving human-computer interaction (HCI). The paper reviews several streams of research along these lines while striving for a philosophical and conceptual understanding of what affecting computing means for new visions of HCI. In turn this provides a foundational structure for positioning the special issue and sets up the papers to provide readers with a broad exposure to the potential (and hazards) involved with affective computing as it impacts cognate areas of emphasis. Finally, the hope is put forth that affective computing must be developed as a user-centered technology to be of value for unexplored frontiers of the digital global economy.