The Psychophysiology Primer: A Guide to Methods and a Broad Review with a Focus on Human–Computer Interaction

Abstract

The use of psychophysiologic signals in human-computer interaction is a growing field with significant potential for future smart personalised systems. Working in this emerging field requires comprehension of different physiological signals and analysis techniques. Cardiovascular signals such as heart rate variability and blood pressure variability are commonly used in psychophysiology in order to investigate phenomena such as mental workload. In this paper we present a short review of different cardiovascular metrics useful in the context of humancomputer interaction. This paper aims to serve as a primer for the novice, enabling rapid familiarisation with the latest core concepts. We emphasise everyday humancomputer interface applications to distinguish from the more common clinical or sports uses of psychophysiology. This paper is an extract from a comprehensive review of the entire field of ambulatory psychophysiology, with 12 similar chapters, plus application guidelines and systematic review.

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