# HappyRouting: Learning Emotion-Aware Route Trajectories for Scalable In-The-Wild Navigation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.15695 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.15695/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 86 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Jan 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [AffectNet: A Database for Facial Expression, Valence, and Arousal Computing in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.03985/) (2017)
- [Training Deep Networks for Facial Expression Recognition with Crowd-Sourced Label Distribution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.01041/) (2016)
- ["AI enhances our performance, I have no doubt this one will do the same": The Placebo effect is robust to negative descriptions of AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.16606/) (2023)
- [The Shortest Path to Happiness: Recommending Beautiful, Quiet, and Happy Routes in the City](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1407.1031/) (2014)
- [Affective Automotive User Interfaces -- Reviewing the State of Emotion Regulation in the Car](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.13731/) (2020)
- [Exploring Factors that Influence Connected Drivers to (Not) Use or Follow Recommended Optimal Routes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.06681/) (2019)
- [What If Your Car Would Care? Exploring Use Cases For Affective Automotive User Interfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.02481/) (2020)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Routes represent an integral part of triggering emotions in drivers. Navigation systems allow users to choose a navigation strategy, such as the fastest or shortest route. However, they do not consider the driver's emotional well-being. We present HappyRouting, a novel navigation-based empathic car interface guiding drivers through real-world traffic while evoking positive emotions. We propose design considerations, derive a technical architecture, and implement a routing optimization framework. Our contribution is a machine learning-based generated emotion map layer, predicting emotions along routes based on static and dynamic contextual data. We evaluated HappyRouting in a real-world driving study (N=13), finding that happy routes increase subjectively perceived valence by 11% (p=.007). Although happy routes take 1.25 times longer on average, participants perceived the happy route as shorter, presenting an emotion-enhanced alternative to today's fastest routing mechanisms. We discuss how emotion-based routing can be integrated into navigation apps, promoting emotional well-being for mobility use.