The document outlines the academic and professional background of Dr. Aleksander Väljamäe, including his education in telecommunications, PhD research in multisensory virtual reality, and postdoctoral research focusing on physiology-based human-computer interaction, virtual reality, and brain-computer interfaces. It also provides an overview of his research projects studying presence, neurofeedback, affective computing, and embodied cognition using virtual reality and mixed reality technologies.

1. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
0&
Physiology-based interaction
for health, well-being and entertainment!!
Dr. Aleksander Väljamäe
Senior research fellow,
Human Computer Interaction group,
School of Digital Technologies,
Tallinn University
Venia Legendi lecture

2. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
8&
"Breaking the Waves" by Lars Von Trier (1996)
ART AS A MACHINE THAT ALLOWS US
TO AQUIRE NEW LIFE EXPERIENCES
Inspired by works of Lotman, Vygotsky and Mamardashvili

3. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<&

4. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=&
Born in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1978
1996-2000 First degree (B.Sc.) – Telecommunication, Tallinn TU,
Tallinn, Estonia
2001-2003 Second degree (M.Sc.) – Telecommunication, Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2003-2007 Ph.D. on multisensory virtual reality – Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2007-2010 First postdoc – neuroscience lab SPECS, University of
Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
2011-2012 Second postdoc – Graz BCI lab, TU Graz &
Neuropsychology Laboratory, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
2012-2015 FP7 Marie Curie Action – International Outgoing
Fellowship (MCA-IOF), Project “B-Reactable”, LiU & SPbSU
2015 - Senior member of Interaction Design Lab, Tallinn University
Short academic CV

5. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
:&
Searching for a low-cost motion simulator

6. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
>&
http://www.elumens.com/
Using perceptual optimization &
multisensory design in VR

7. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
1&
User-centred methodology: POEMS
Subjective measures
(self-reported presence
& illusory self-motion)
auditory

8. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
?&

9. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
@&
Born in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1978
1996-2000 First degree (B.Sc.) – Telecommunication, Tallinn TU,
Tallinn, Estonia
2001-2003 Second degree (M.Sc.) – Telecommunication, Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2003-2007 Ph.D. on multisensory virtual reality – Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2007-2010 First postdoc – neuroscience lab SPECS, University of
Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
2011-2012 Second postdoc – Graz BCI lab, TU Graz &
Neuropsychology Laboratory, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
2012-2015 FP7 Marie Curie Action – International Outgoing
Fellowship (MCA-IOF), Project “B-Reactable”, LiU & SPbSU
2015 - Senior member of Interaction Design Lab, Tallinn University
Short academic CV

10. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
09&
SPECS-UPF research lines

11. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
00&
Establishing and running psychophysiology lab
Supervision of 10 MSc theses in the period of 2009-2010

12. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
08&
&EDA-based biofeedback via real-time video effects
MSc. thesis by S. Wierenga (2010)

13. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
0<&
XIM – eXperience Induction Machine

14. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
0=&
User experience and social interaction - Bernardet, U., Väljamäe, A., et al
(2011). Brain Research Bulletin
Social collaboration and competition - Inderbitzin, M., Wierenga, S.,
Väljamäe, A., et al. (2009). Virtual Reality
Explicit and implicit interaction - Bermúdez i Badia, S., Väljamäe, A., et al.
(2009). Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
Design and analysis of the human experiments in XIM

15. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
0:&
& Studying the affective conditioning
Väljamäe, A., Pesquita, A., & Verschure, P.F.M.J. (2010) Studying cross-
modal emotional conditioning using distance montage in
database narratives. Talk at the Conference of Society for Cognitive
Studies of the Moving Image (SCSMI’10). Roanoke, Virginia, USA

16. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
0>&
& Experimental design

17. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
01&
& Electrodermal activity – SCR data
Normalizedunits
Duration [s]

18. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
0?&
Pilot clinical studies at SPECS
Steffert, T., Väljamäe, A., Fernandez-Moralez, J., Kropotov, J., Verschure,
P.F.M.J., & Pozo-Rosich, P. (2010). Slowing of sensory event
related potentials (ERPs) in migraine: Search for an
endophenotype. Poster presentation at 16th Annual Meeting of the
Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona.
Väljamäe, A., Steffert, T., Bernardet, U., Gruzelier, J., & Verschure,
P.F.M.J. (2009). Studying the effectiveness of immersion for
neurofeedback in mixed/virtual reality. Poster presentation at 14th
Annual CyberTherapy (CT14) & CyberPsychology Conference, Lago
Maggiore, Italy.
Väljamäe, A., Pozo-Rosich, P. & Verschure, P.F.M.J. (2009). Studying
mixed feelings in migraineurs using affective picture pairs.
Poster presentation at the International Society for Research on
Emotion (ISRE) 2009 Conference, Leuven, Belgium.
& Neurofeedback experiments in XIM:
self-motion in VR as a reward

19. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
0@&
Pilot clinical studies at SPECS
Steffert, T., Väljamäe, A., Fernandez-Moralez, J., Kropotov, J., Verschure,
P.F.M.J., & Pozo-Rosich, P. (2010). Slowing of sensory event
related potentials (ERPs) in migraine: Search for an
endophenotype. Poster presentation at 16th Annual Meeting of the
Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona.
Väljamäe, A., Steffert, T., Bernardet, U., Gruzelier, J., & Verschure,
P.F.M.J. (2009). Studying the effectiveness of immersion for
neurofeedback in mixed/virtual reality. Poster presentation at 14th
Annual CyberTherapy (CT14) & CyberPsychology Conference, Lago
Maggiore, Italy.
Väljamäe, A., Pozo-Rosich, P. & Verschure, P.F.M.J. (2009). Studying
mixed feelings in migraineurs using affective picture pairs.
Poster presentation at the International Society for Research on
Emotion (ISRE) 2009 Conference, Leuven, Belgium.
Exploratory clinical studies at SPECS:
autism, migraine, dementia, stroke, chronic pain
Väljamäe, A., Steffert, T., Bernardet, U., Gruzelier, J., & Verschure, P.F.M.J.
(2009). Studying the effectiveness of immersion for neurofeedback in
mixed/virtual reality. Poster presentation at 14th Annual CyberTherapy
(CT14) & CyberPsychology Conference, Lago Maggiore, Italy.
Steffert, T., Väljamäe, A., Fernandez-Moralez, J., Kropotov, J., Verschure,
P.F.M.J., & Pozo-Rosich, P. (2010). Slowing of sensory event related
potentials (ERPs) in migraine: Search for an endophenotype. Poster
presentation at 16th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain
Mapping, Barcelona.
Väljamäe, A., Pozo-Rosich, P. & Verschure, P.F.M.J. (2009). Studying mixed
feelings in migraineurs using affective picture pairs. Poster
presentation at the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE)
2009 Conference, Leuven, Belgium.
Le Groux, S., Väljamäe, A., & Verschure, P.F.M.J. (2009). Towards Interactive
Sonic Therapy. Poster presentation at 14th Annual CyberTherapy (CT14)
& CyberPsychology Conference, Lago Maggiore, Italy.

20. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
89&
Multimodal Brain Orchestra performance at FET
conference in 2009

21. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
80&
Multimodal Brain Orchestra technical implementation

22. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
88&
Born in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1978
1996-2000 First degree (B.Sc.) – Telecommunication, Tallinn TU,
Tallinn, Estonia
2001-2003 Second degree (M.Sc.) – Telecommunication, Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2003-2007 Ph.D. on multisensory virtual reality – Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2007-2010 First postdoc – neuroscience lab SPECS, University of
Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
2011-2012 Second postdoc – Graz BCI lab, TU Graz &
Neuropsychology Laboratory, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
2012-2015 FP7 Marie Curie Action – International Outgoing
Fellowship (MCA-IOF), Project “B-Reactable”, LiU & SPbSU
2015 - Senior member of Interaction Design Lab, Tallinn University
Short academic CV

23. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
8<&
Brain-Computer Neural Interaction (BNCI)
Aleksander Väljamäe
and Brendan Z. Allison
Laboratory for Brain-Computer Interfaces,
Institute for Knowledge Discovery,
Technical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

24. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
8=&
Future BNCI roadmap and videography
(http://www.youtube.com/user/FutureBNCI)

25. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
8:&
Embodied cognition and body awareness
Tajadura-Jiménez, A., Väljamäe, A., et al. (2012)., Action sounds recalibrate
perceived tactile distance, Current Biology

26. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
8>&
Born in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1978
1996-2000 First degree (B.Sc.) – Telecommunication, Tallinn TU,
Tallinn, Estonia
2001-2003 Second degree (M.Sc.) – Telecommunication, Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2003-2007 Ph.D. on multisensory virtual reality – Chalmers
University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2007-2010 First postdoc – neuroscience lab SPECS, University of
Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
2011-2012 Second postdoc – Graz BCI lab, TU Graz &
Neuropsychology Laboratory, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
2012-2015 FP7 Marie Curie Action – International Outgoing
Fellowship (MCA-IOF), Project “B-Reactable”, LiU & SPbSU
2015 - Senior member of Interaction Design Lab, Tallinn University
Short academic CV

27. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
81&
B-Reactable project: 2013-2015

28. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
8?&
Collaborations:
- Dr. Aleksei Ossadchi, Saint Petersburg State University
- Prof. Juri D. Kropotov, Natalia Shemyakina, Institute of
Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences
- Prof. Daniel Västfjäll, Linköping University, Linköping,
Sweden
- Prof. Sergi Jorda, Sebastian Mealla, University of
Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
“B-Reactable: multimodal tabletop system for collaborative
physiology monitoring and training"
https://vimeo.com/14675468
B-Reactable project: 2013-2015

29. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
8@&
&First B-Reactable experiments

30. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<9&
&Multi-brain setup at Saint-Petersburg

31. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<0&
&B-Reactable: signal processing block diagram

32. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<8&
!Physiology-based interaction strategies
global control vs. local control

33. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<<&

34. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<=&
Journal publications of B-Reactable
Mealla, S., Jorda, S., & Väljamäe, A. Physiopucks: increasing user
motivation by combining tangible and implicit physiological
interaction (in press). ACM Transactions on Computer-Human
Interactions (TOCHI).
Steffert, T., Holland, S., Mulholland, P., Sheep, D., & Väljamäe, A. (in
review) The Assessment Of Real-Time EEG Sonifications For
Neurofeedback
Mealla Cincuegrania, S., Jorda, S., & Väljamäe, A. (in review) Sonic
designs for Neurofeedback: Implementation, Personalization and
Evaluation of Sonic Designs for Neurofeedback.
Mealla Cincuegrania, S., Jorda, S., & Väljamäe, A. (in preparation)
Enhancing Musical Expression Through Physiology-based Sonic
Interaction: A Validation of Control Mappings in a Performance
Environment

35. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<:&

36. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<>&
from Wolpaw et al. (2002)

37. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<1&
from Wolpaw et al. (2002)

38. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<?&
&Implicit, physiology-based interaction
Physiological computing provides a new channel to the
conventional Human Computer Interaction paradigm
My current area of interest is implicit interaction with
multisensory media and its use for health and entertainment

39. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
<@&
&Tools: affective chronometry and database cinema

40. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=9&
Controlled stimuli – affective databases (IAPS)
HAU
LAU
HAP
LAP

41. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=0&
&Exploration of emotional rhythms
MSc. thesis by M. Oliveira (2010)

42. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=8&
Scientific framework: Craig's awareness model
Craig, Nature, 2009

43. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=<&
Craig's awareness model
Craig, Nature, 2009
(and references therein)
Hypothesis:
Anterior Insular
Cortex (AIC)
engenders human
awareness

44. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
==&
Integration of salient activity in the insula
Craig, p67, Nature, 2009
Producing " a ‘global emotional moment’,
which represents the sentient self at one moment of time"

45. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=:&
Temporal changes of the sentient self ‘image’
Craig, Nature, 2009
a series of global
emotional moments
produce a self "image"
that evolves in time...
...and modulates
subjective time
passage

46. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=>&
Other view on emotional moments: six phases of auteur film
van der Pol, 2011
1st phase: seeing story
world as a real world
2nd phase: understanding
the film as fiction
3d phase: understanding the
characters as real people
4th phase: Confrontation
with a cognitive dissonance
5th phase: True moral crisis
due to character "immorality"
6th phase: Redemption

47. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=1&
Physiology-based interaction research areas
- temporal dynamics of cognitive & emotional processing
- unconscious processing
- aesthetics of physiology-based interaction
- neuro- and biofeedback
- brain to brain interaction, hyperscanning
- decision making and prosocial behavior (compassion)
- emotional synchronization, collective experience
- imaging genetics + media = cinegenetics

48. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=?&
Physiology-based interaction research areas
- temporal dynamics of cognitive & emotional processing
- unconscious processing
- aesthetics of physiology-based interaction
- neuro- and biofeedback
- brain to brain interaction, hyperscanning
- decision making and prosocial behavior (compassion)
- emotional synchronization, collective experience
- imaging genetics + media = cinegenetics
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS TO MAKE IT HAPPEN?

49. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
=@&
Action 1: User eXperience laboratory within HCI group
UX lab will be used to assess emotional, cognitive and
perceptual reactions to mixed and real environments
using psychophysiological, behavioural and
subjective responses from users.
Example projects:
•! Aesthetics of implicit interaction [methodology
development]
•! Hyperscanning studies on group decision making
[group evaluation]
•! Neuro- and biofeedback applications [prosocial
behavior training]

50. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
:9&
Experiments at the CineLab, Mallorca 2015

51. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
:0&
Action 2: Dedicated courses within MSc programmes
Project based courses within HCI or Digital Learning
Games programmes where students will work together
using physiology-based interaction for designing new
applications for health, well-being and entertainment
Example projects:
•! Phenomenon of catharsis defined in physiological
terms
•! Neuro and bio-feedback training in actors and
“Stanislavsky 2.0”
•! Physiology-based interaction patterns vocabulary,
minimal experience units or "cognemes"

52. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
:8&
Advanced interaction design course at UPF, 2010

53. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
:<&
Action 3: Research and fundraising
I have been active in research fundraising from 2004 with
several projects successfully funded:
•!FP6 Presenccia (7.4 Mln, 2006-2009)
•!FP7 BrainAble (3 Mln, 2010-2012)
•!FP7 CEEDS (8.6 Mln, 2010-2015)
•!H2020 BrainHack (0.5 Mln, 2016-2018)
Example projects proposal ideas:
•! Neurotheatre and neurocinema
•! Wearable and affective computing for health
•! Affective metadata as a intangible cultural heritage

54. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
:=&
Brain-to-brain communication based on media

55. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
::&
Brain to Brain communication
A".B4#%*&
%C"+D5"&
)$+D4#%.E&
A".B4#%*&
%C"+D5"&
)$+D4#%.E&

56. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
:>&
Brain to Brain communication
A".B4#%*&
%C"+D5"&
)$+D4#%.E&
A".B4#%*&
%C"+D5"&
)$+D4#%.E&

57. !"#$%&'"("#)$&*"+,-."/&01,2&345"67".&890:/&;%**$##&
:1&
Thank you for your attention!
aleksander.valjamae@tlu.ee