Glossary of Emotional Technology
32 definitions for the vocabulary of emotional intelligence, affective computing, and the category we are building - from .emo to resonance.
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- .emo (file format)
- A proprietary open format for encoding emotional content. Where .mp3 carries sound and .mov carries motion, .emo carries emotion - a multi-layered, encrypted, time-aware payload capturing tone, micro-expressions, and contextual signals. Standards work led by émo labs.
A
- Affective computing
- The field of computer science concerned with systems that recognise, interpret, and respond to human emotion. Founded by Rosalind Picard at MIT in 1997, it spans facial-expression analysis, voice prosody, physiological signal processing, and natural-language sentiment. The technical foundation for emotional AI.
- Alexithymia
- A clinical trait where a person cannot reliably identify or describe what they feel. Epidemiological studies estimate it affects roughly 10% of the general population (Salminen et al., 1999; replicated Franz 2008, Hiirola 2017). A core target of emotional-literacy tooling.
- alter émo®
- A matching protocol, not a dating app, built by 3.2.1 émotion. It pairs people on émoDNA - their emotional signature - rather than on photographs or bios. Identity is revealed only once emotional resonance is established. alteremo.ai.
- Attachment theory
- Framework developed by John Bowlby and extended by Mary Ainsworth describing how early caregiver bonds shape adult relational patterns. Four primary styles: secure, anxious, avoidant, disorganised. See the emotional compatibility pillar.
C
- Connection by signature
- Finding another person through the match of emotional signatures rather than proxies like photograph, bio, or interest overlap. Contrast with mismatch by design. Introduced in the founding thesis.
E
- EI - Emotional Intelligence
- An intelligence, not a score. A human capability that lives between people more than inside them, extended by language, tools, and connection. Collective, augmentable, under construction. Distinct from EQ. The object of our founding thesis.
- émo
- The emotionally intelligent conversational layer of 3.2.1 émotion - an instrument for self-reflection. Not a therapist, not a friend. A mirror that helps you name what you feel before you share it.
- émo labs
- The research division of 3.2.1 émotion. Where hypotheses become products: the .emo file format, feelmoji®, émoDNA, and the Ask émo AI system. Learn more.
- émo messenger
- The first messenger for what you actually feel, not just what you type. Built around feelmoji® as expression and .emo as file format. Supports temporal delivery - send emotion into tomorrow, next Tuesday, the day she turns thirty. emomessenger.com.
- émoDNA
- Your emotional signature - the structured, evolving map of how you feel and express over time. Built through psychological tests, smart journaling, and interactive emotional experiences. Powers compatibility matching in alter émo.
- Emotional AI
- Artificial intelligence systems that detect, interpret, or respond to human emotions. Overlaps with affective computing. 3.2.1 émotion does not build AI that pretends to feel - we build AI that helps humans feel more precisely themselves.
- Emotional compatibility
- The degree to which two people’s emotional patterns, needs, and responses align in ways that sustain connection through conflict and ordinary friction. More predictive of relationship longevity than shared interests or physical attraction. See the pillar.
- Emotional granularity
- The ability to describe one’s emotional state with precision - distinguishing "anxious" from "overwhelmed" from "dreading." Research by Lisa Feldman Barrett links high granularity to better regulation and resilience.
- Emotional infrastructure
- The collection of tools, languages, and practices that make emotional communication possible at scale. The layer the internet forgot. What 3.2.1 émotion is building.
- Emotional intelligence
- See EI. The capability that emerges when humans, language, bodies, and technology learn to hold emotional information the way we have long held logical information. Formalised by Peter Salovey and John Mayer (1990); popularised by Daniel Goleman (1995).
- Emotional layer
- The level at which two people meet emotionally rather than through profile, photograph, or performance. The substrate underneath connection by signature.
- Emotional messaging
- A category of digital communication designed to transmit what you feel, not just what you think. Restores tone, intensity, timing, and vulnerability that text flattens. See the pillar.
- Emotional regulation
- The ability to modulate the intensity, duration, and expression of an emotional response rather than being controlled by it. A core component of EI and a learnable skill at any age.
- Emotional self
- The dimension of identity shaped by how you feel, how you process those feelings, and how those feelings shape your actions and relationships. Sits at the body - mind - emotion intersection. See the pillar.
- Emotional transmission
- Sending a felt state, intact, from one person to another. Distinct from information transmission (which current messaging optimises for). The engineering problem at the core of émo messenger.
- Emotionally Intelligent Technology
- The category 3.2.1 émotion is building. Technology designed to augment human emotional capability rather than replace it. Not emotional AI. Not wellness. Not social networking. A new layer.
- Empathy
- Sensing and understanding what another person feels. The bridge between self-awareness and social skill. One of Goleman’s five components of emotional intelligence.
- EQ - Emotional Quotient
- A measurement of emotional ability treated as a score. Popularised in 1995 by Daniel Goleman. Even Goleman himself now prefers EI to EQ - the shift from quotient to intelligence matters more than it sounds.
F
- feelmoji®
- A new generation of emoji designed for emotional precision rather than generic reaction. Where a classic emoji flattens a moment to a single icon, feelmoji gives emotion a structured, contextual visual form. Patented expression system by émo labs.
I
- IQ - Intelligence Quotient
- A score of cognitive ability introduced in the early 20th century (Binet 1905, Stern 1912, Wechsler 1939) to rank individuals on logical and analytical capacity. Static. Individual. Diagnostic. Contrast with EI.
L
- Loneliness
- The subjective feeling that the quantity or quality of one’s social connections falls short of need. Not the same as being alone. 1 in 6 people worldwide experience loneliness, linked to ~871,000 deaths per year (WHO Commission on Social Connection, 2025). See the pillar.
M
- Mismatch by design
- What current matching tools produce: relationships sorted on proxies (photo, swipe, bio) rather than on emotional compatibility. The structural problem alter émo is designed to solve.
P
- Parasocial relationship
- A one-sided emotional attachment to a media figure, influencer, or AI persona. A symptomatic substitute for mutual emotional connection at scale.
R
- Resonance
- The quality of connection where two people feel genuinely received by each other. What attention-economy platforms are not optimising for. What we are.
S
- Secure attachment
- The capacity to be emotionally available, responsive, and engaged in close relationships. Emotional intelligence applied to intimacy. Develops early but remains trainable through adulthood.
- Self-awareness
- Recognising your own emotions as they happen. The foundation of emotional intelligence: you cannot manage what you cannot name.