Publication

• Yoon, J., Vira, A., Jung, D. & Kim, C. (2023) LEV: A behavioral intervention technology that supports young adults’ emotion management. (manuscript in preparation).

LEV is a behavioral intervention technology designed to support young adults’ well-being by helping them better manage their emotions (both positive and negative). LEV builds on an emotion-regulating strategy called reappraisal, which refers to changing how one thinks either about the situation itself or about one’s capacity to manage it. For example, people can uplift their positive emotions by increasing the perceived value of the situation (e.g., believing one’s items are irreplaceable), cherishing the little resource left (e.g., listing time left in college), and adopting a grateful outlook (e.g., counting blessings every day). LEV is a small robotic creature that inhabits a user’s home and is a part of their daily routine. LEV guides users through a storytelling activity in which they reflect on and explore events in their daily lives. During the interaction, users recall a recent emotional event and then engage in reappraisal to retell the event from a particular emotional perspective. LEV supports this activity by initiating user interactions, choosing an emotional perspective based on current and historical user input, and providing feedback in gesture-based communication. By providing day-to-day opportunities to consider events from different angles, LEV aims to help users reflect on their daily lives constructively and critically. With time and repetition of the interaction, users can improve their reappraisal ability and become more emotionally adaptive in a variety of positive and negative situations.