About

Eating together in a group of people, or “commensality”, is one of the most profound social experiences humans engage in. It involves gathering around the table, talking, and sharing food. Also, it is one of the most common, widespread, and universal human experiences in the whole history of humanity (think about our ancestors, gathering in front of the campfire and sharing hunted food). Several positive impacts of commensality include food intake and choices, positive emotions, and wellbeing. Despite its importance, the frequency of shared meals is decreasing, especially in industrialized countries, due to the increasing trend to live alone. Not only can the lack of social eating, or commensality, have negative consequences on mental and physical health (depression, weight problems), but several benefits are missing for people who have to eat alone.

COCOA aims to fill this gap by paving the ground toward creating interactive technologies supporting the commensality experience. The project will use state-of-the art AI methods and the multimodal data of nonverbal behaviors to develop new commensal activities recognition models and innovative techniques for social relations analysis and quantification in the commensality setting.