This document proposes a study to examine how interactive digital media can augment human compassion. It outlines a design concept using two interactive art installations to test participants' engagement, affective states, and perceptions of care/connection. Surveys would assess these factors, with open-ended questions to identify processes leading to compassion development. The goal is to define a "meta-mood" of compassion and refine categories of media interaction, with future studies exploring duration and intensity of effects on compassion levels over time.
It is a presentation on artificial emotion engine, which demonstrates the building of an artificial emotion engine.A robot which can understand your feelings, your needs, your orders like any human is an emotion engine.We demonstrate here, how such an engine is usually built.It is a helpful ppt for students seeking artificial intelligence engines.For any further requests, you can comment.
It is a presentation on artificial emotion engine, which demonstrates the building of an artificial emotion engine.A robot which can understand your feelings, your needs, your orders like any human is an emotion engine.We demonstrate here, how such an engine is usually built.It is a helpful ppt for students seeking artificial intelligence engines.For any further requests, you can comment.
Présentation de l’extension Lightning pour ThunderbirdLINAGORA
Présentation, donné le 28 août 2012 lors de la soirée consacré à l'arrivée de la nouvelle version de Mozilla Thunderbird.
Par Philipp KEWISCH, lead developer Lightning.
Consciousness and Cognition 22 (2013) 1152–1161Contents listAlleneMcclendon878
Consciousness and Cognition 22 (2013) 1152–1161
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Consciousness and Cognition
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / c o n c o g
Mirror neurons and their function in cognitively understood
empathy
1053-8100/$ - see front matter � 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.03.003
⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +39 02 72342280.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (A. Corradini), [email protected] (A. Antonietti).
Antonella Corradini ⇑, Alessandro Antonietti
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano, Italy
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Available online 11 April 2013
Keywords:
Mirror neurons
Empathy
Reenactive empathy
Rational explanation
Social cognition
Mindreading
Theory–theory
Simulation theory
Emotion
Intention understanding
The current renewal of interest in empathy is closely connected to the recent neurobiologi-
cal discovery of mirror neurons. Although the concept of empathy has been widely
deployed, we shall focus upon one main psychological function it serves: enabling us to
understand other peoples’ intentions. In this essay we will draw on neuroscientific, psycho-
logical, and philosophical literature in order to investigate the relationships between mir-
ror neurons and empathy as to intention understanding. Firstly, it will be explored whether
mirror neurons are the neural basis of our empathic capacities: a vast array of empirical
results appears to confirm this hypothesis. Secondly, the higher level capacity of reenactive
empathy will be examined and the question will be addressed whether philosophical anal-
ysis alone is able to provide a foundation for this more abstract level of empathy. The con-
clusion will be drawn that both empirical evidence and philosophical analysis can jointly
contribute to the clarification of the concept of empathy.
� 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The mirror neuron system (MNS) has been recently proposed as the biological basis of social cognition (e.g., Pineda, 2009).
This encompasses a broad range of phenomena, which includes, among others, empathy (Gallese, Gernsbacher, Heyes, Hick-
ok, & Iacoboni, 2011, Question 6). The term ‘‘empathy’’ is used to denote different phenomena (Roganti & Ricci Bitti, 2012). It
is sometimes deployed to refer to simple forms of behavioural sharing, as occurs in emotional contagion: when a person is
performing an action which is usually associated with the experience of a given emotion, another displays the same behav-
iour (de Vignemont & Singer, 2006). This is the case of a baby who begins crying because another baby close to her is crying
or the case of laughter which spreads in a group even though people are not aware of why the others are laughing. On the
other hand, empathy can be conceived of as a mainly cognitive phenomenon, wh ...
Discussion 2 - Week 9COLLAPSEEmotion and Social CognitionSoc.docxfelipaser7p
Discussion 2 - Week 9
COLLAPSE
Emotion and Social Cognition
Social psychologists have long studied the relationship between emotion (affect) and cognition, and there are many studies which demonstrate that emotion does indeed impact social cognitive functioning. For example, emotion can impact attention, judgments and decisions, cognitive processing/flexibility, perceptions of morality, and stereotypes/prejudice. Not only does emotion impact social cognitive functioning, but research also indicates that emotion, itself, is a social construction wherein social factors influence emotional response and emotional responses have social ramifications.
For this Discussion, select a peer reviewed article from the Walden Library which studies emotion (affect) and its impact on social cognition, including but not limited to attention, judgments, decisions, cognitive processing, flexibility, perceptions of morality, and stereotypes and prejudice. Based upon the article you selected, consider whether or not emotion is a social construction.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day
3
a brief summary of the peer-reviewed article you selected from the library (include the key variables, the design, and the main findings). Then, post an argument for or against the notion that emotion is a social construction. Use the article you selected to support your argument and include any connections between emotions and social cognition.
Impact of Mood on Decision Making
The awareness of moods and emotions provides you information about your individual circumstance and about your interactions with others. This information, in turn, helps you make decisions and judgments. For example, if you were in a bad mood, you might make a global judgment regarding life satisfaction. If you were in a good mood, you might decide to sky dive from an airplane because you were feeling elated and excited to try something new. Moods and emotions greatly impact your decision-making process, and it is important to understand this connection.
For this Discussion, review the media titled
Social Cognition and Affect,
and consider why the person in the video made the decisions he or she did and what impact moods and emotions may have had on his or her decisions.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day
4
a brief explanation of three possible reasons why the person in the media made his or her decision. Be specific. Then, explain two ways mood/emotion may have impacted this person’s decision. Finally, describe one life or death situation and explain how mood/emotion could impact decision making in this situation.
Learning Resources
Course Media
Media: Laureate Education, Inc. (2011).
Social cognition and affect
.
Baltimore, MD: Author.
(Click on the television screen once the video opens in a new window. “The Company” will appear on the television image.)
Note:
While the content within this media piece references Week 10, it is intended for Week 9 in this cou.
The International Journal of Engineering and Science (The IJES)theijes
The International Journal of Engineering & Science is aimed at providing a platform for researchers, engineers, scientists, or educators to publish their original research results, to exchange new ideas, to disseminate information in innovative designs, engineering experiences and technological skills. It is also the Journal's objective to promote engineering and technology education. All papers submitted to the Journal will be blind peer-reviewed. Only original articles will be published.
The papers for publication in The International Journal of Engineering& Science are selected through rigorous peer reviews to ensure originality, timeliness, relevance, and readability.
The International Journal of Engineering and Science (The IJES)theijes
The International Journal of Engineering & Science is aimed at providing a platform for researchers, engineers, scientists, or educators to publish their original research results, to exchange new ideas, to disseminate information in innovative designs, engineering experiences and technological skills. It is also the Journal's objective to promote engineering and technology education. All papers submitted to the Journal will be blind peer-reviewed. Only original articles will be published.
The papers for publication in The International Journal of Engineering& Science are selected through rigorous peer reviews to ensure originality, timeliness, relevance, and readability.
Abstract: Speech technology and systems in human computer interaction have witnessed a stable and remarkable advancement over the last two decades. Today, speech technologies are commercially available for an unlimited but interesting range of tasks. These technologies enable machines to respond correctly and reliably to human voices, and provide useful and valuable services. This thesis presents the characteristics of emotion in voice and on that basis propose a new method to detecting emotion in a simplified way by using a prosodic features and spectral from speech. We classify seven emotions: happy, anger, fear, disgust, sadness and neutral inner state. This thesis discusses the method to extract features from a recorded speech sample, and using those features, to detect the emotion of the subject. Every emotion comprises different vocal parameters exhibiting diverse characteristics of speech, which is used for preliminary classification. Then Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficient (MFCC) method was used to extract spectral features. The MFCC coefficients were again trained by Artificial Neural Network (ANN) which then classifies the input in particular emotional class.
Présentation de l’extension Lightning pour ThunderbirdLINAGORA
Présentation, donné le 28 août 2012 lors de la soirée consacré à l'arrivée de la nouvelle version de Mozilla Thunderbird.
Par Philipp KEWISCH, lead developer Lightning.
Consciousness and Cognition 22 (2013) 1152–1161Contents listAlleneMcclendon878
Consciousness and Cognition 22 (2013) 1152–1161
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Consciousness and Cognition
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / c o n c o g
Mirror neurons and their function in cognitively understood
empathy
1053-8100/$ - see front matter � 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.03.003
⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +39 02 72342280.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (A. Corradini), [email protected] (A. Antonietti).
Antonella Corradini ⇑, Alessandro Antonietti
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano, Italy
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Available online 11 April 2013
Keywords:
Mirror neurons
Empathy
Reenactive empathy
Rational explanation
Social cognition
Mindreading
Theory–theory
Simulation theory
Emotion
Intention understanding
The current renewal of interest in empathy is closely connected to the recent neurobiologi-
cal discovery of mirror neurons. Although the concept of empathy has been widely
deployed, we shall focus upon one main psychological function it serves: enabling us to
understand other peoples’ intentions. In this essay we will draw on neuroscientific, psycho-
logical, and philosophical literature in order to investigate the relationships between mir-
ror neurons and empathy as to intention understanding. Firstly, it will be explored whether
mirror neurons are the neural basis of our empathic capacities: a vast array of empirical
results appears to confirm this hypothesis. Secondly, the higher level capacity of reenactive
empathy will be examined and the question will be addressed whether philosophical anal-
ysis alone is able to provide a foundation for this more abstract level of empathy. The con-
clusion will be drawn that both empirical evidence and philosophical analysis can jointly
contribute to the clarification of the concept of empathy.
� 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The mirror neuron system (MNS) has been recently proposed as the biological basis of social cognition (e.g., Pineda, 2009).
This encompasses a broad range of phenomena, which includes, among others, empathy (Gallese, Gernsbacher, Heyes, Hick-
ok, & Iacoboni, 2011, Question 6). The term ‘‘empathy’’ is used to denote different phenomena (Roganti & Ricci Bitti, 2012). It
is sometimes deployed to refer to simple forms of behavioural sharing, as occurs in emotional contagion: when a person is
performing an action which is usually associated with the experience of a given emotion, another displays the same behav-
iour (de Vignemont & Singer, 2006). This is the case of a baby who begins crying because another baby close to her is crying
or the case of laughter which spreads in a group even though people are not aware of why the others are laughing. On the
other hand, empathy can be conceived of as a mainly cognitive phenomenon, wh ...
Discussion 2 - Week 9COLLAPSEEmotion and Social CognitionSoc.docxfelipaser7p
Discussion 2 - Week 9
COLLAPSE
Emotion and Social Cognition
Social psychologists have long studied the relationship between emotion (affect) and cognition, and there are many studies which demonstrate that emotion does indeed impact social cognitive functioning. For example, emotion can impact attention, judgments and decisions, cognitive processing/flexibility, perceptions of morality, and stereotypes/prejudice. Not only does emotion impact social cognitive functioning, but research also indicates that emotion, itself, is a social construction wherein social factors influence emotional response and emotional responses have social ramifications.
For this Discussion, select a peer reviewed article from the Walden Library which studies emotion (affect) and its impact on social cognition, including but not limited to attention, judgments, decisions, cognitive processing, flexibility, perceptions of morality, and stereotypes and prejudice. Based upon the article you selected, consider whether or not emotion is a social construction.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day
3
a brief summary of the peer-reviewed article you selected from the library (include the key variables, the design, and the main findings). Then, post an argument for or against the notion that emotion is a social construction. Use the article you selected to support your argument and include any connections between emotions and social cognition.
Impact of Mood on Decision Making
The awareness of moods and emotions provides you information about your individual circumstance and about your interactions with others. This information, in turn, helps you make decisions and judgments. For example, if you were in a bad mood, you might make a global judgment regarding life satisfaction. If you were in a good mood, you might decide to sky dive from an airplane because you were feeling elated and excited to try something new. Moods and emotions greatly impact your decision-making process, and it is important to understand this connection.
For this Discussion, review the media titled
Social Cognition and Affect,
and consider why the person in the video made the decisions he or she did and what impact moods and emotions may have had on his or her decisions.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day
4
a brief explanation of three possible reasons why the person in the media made his or her decision. Be specific. Then, explain two ways mood/emotion may have impacted this person’s decision. Finally, describe one life or death situation and explain how mood/emotion could impact decision making in this situation.
Learning Resources
Course Media
Media: Laureate Education, Inc. (2011).
Social cognition and affect
.
Baltimore, MD: Author.
(Click on the television screen once the video opens in a new window. “The Company” will appear on the television image.)
Note:
While the content within this media piece references Week 10, it is intended for Week 9 in this cou.
The International Journal of Engineering and Science (The IJES)theijes
The International Journal of Engineering & Science is aimed at providing a platform for researchers, engineers, scientists, or educators to publish their original research results, to exchange new ideas, to disseminate information in innovative designs, engineering experiences and technological skills. It is also the Journal's objective to promote engineering and technology education. All papers submitted to the Journal will be blind peer-reviewed. Only original articles will be published.
The papers for publication in The International Journal of Engineering& Science are selected through rigorous peer reviews to ensure originality, timeliness, relevance, and readability.
The International Journal of Engineering and Science (The IJES)theijes
The International Journal of Engineering & Science is aimed at providing a platform for researchers, engineers, scientists, or educators to publish their original research results, to exchange new ideas, to disseminate information in innovative designs, engineering experiences and technological skills. It is also the Journal's objective to promote engineering and technology education. All papers submitted to the Journal will be blind peer-reviewed. Only original articles will be published.
The papers for publication in The International Journal of Engineering& Science are selected through rigorous peer reviews to ensure originality, timeliness, relevance, and readability.
Abstract: Speech technology and systems in human computer interaction have witnessed a stable and remarkable advancement over the last two decades. Today, speech technologies are commercially available for an unlimited but interesting range of tasks. These technologies enable machines to respond correctly and reliably to human voices, and provide useful and valuable services. This thesis presents the characteristics of emotion in voice and on that basis propose a new method to detecting emotion in a simplified way by using a prosodic features and spectral from speech. We classify seven emotions: happy, anger, fear, disgust, sadness and neutral inner state. This thesis discusses the method to extract features from a recorded speech sample, and using those features, to detect the emotion of the subject. Every emotion comprises different vocal parameters exhibiting diverse characteristics of speech, which is used for preliminary classification. Then Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficient (MFCC) method was used to extract spectral features. The MFCC coefficients were again trained by Artificial Neural Network (ANN) which then classifies the input in particular emotional class.
The deficiency or hindrance in the capacity to think passionate states is known as mind visual deficiency. This condition is seen to be the key inhibitor of social and enthusiastic insight for mentally unbalanced individuals. A mental imbalance is a range of neuro-formative conditions which influences one's social working, correspondence what's more, is frequently went with redundant practices and over the top interests. Failures coming about because of mind-visual deficiency incorporate measuring the enthusiasm of different gatherings amid discussions, withdrawal from social contact, obscurity to social signals, in distinction to individuals' conclusions and inconceivable non-verbal correspondence. The current assistive gadgets and instruments generally fill in as healing apparatuses that give a learning condition for mentally unbalanced youngsters to find out about the standards of social conduct. In any case, these instruments do not have the capacity to work in conjunction with certifiable circumstances. A thought is recommended that means to satisfy this need. We propose a compact gadget which can help extremely introverted individuals in correspondence in genuine circumstances. We trust that this versatile gadget can help to limit the hole amongst us and the universe of extreme introvertedness through helped correspondence. In this paper, we introduce one a player in this gadget, which is called Emotional Advisor to help extremely introverted youngsters in taking part in significant discussions where individuals can learn how they are feeling amid correspondence.
Thelxinoë: Recognizing Human Emotions Using Pupillometry and Machine Learningmlaij
In this study, we present a method for emotion recognition in Virtual Reality (VR) using pupillometry. We analyze pupil diameter responses to both visual and auditory stimuli via a VR headset and focus on extracting key features in the time-domain, frequency-domain, and time-frequency domain from VR-generated data. Our approach utilizes feature selection to identify the most impactful features using Maximum Relevance Minimum Redundancy (mRMR). By applying a Gradient Boosting model, an ensemble learning technique using stacked decision trees, we achieve an accuracy of 98.8% with feature engineering, compared to 84.9% without it. This research contributes significantly to the Thelxinoë framework, aiming to enhance VR experiences by integrating multiple sensor data for realistic and emotionally resonant touch interactions. Our findings open new avenues for developing more immersive and interactive VR environments, paving the way for future advancements in virtual touch technology.
Thelxinoë: Recognizing Human Emotions Using Pupillometry and Machine Learningmlaij
In this study, we present a method for emotion recognition in Virtual Reality (VR) using pupillometry. We analyze pupil diameter responses to both visual and auditory stimuli via a VR headset and focus on extracting key features in the time-domain, frequency-domain, and time-frequency domain from VR-generated data. Our approach utilizes feature selection to identify the most impactful features using Maximum Relevance Minimum Redundancy (mRMR). By applying a Gradient Boosting model, an ensemble learning technique using stacked decision trees, we achieve an accuracy of 98.8% with feature engineering, compared to 84.9% without it. This research contributes significantly to the Thelxinoë framework, aiming to enhance VR experiences by integrating multiple sensor data for realistic and emotionally resonant touch interactions. Our findings open new avenues for developing more immersive and interactive VR environments, paving the way for future advancements in virtual touch technology.
Presentation on our paper entitled "The Effects of Chronic Multitasking on Analytical Writing" that explains how trait multitaskers incorporate relevant or irrelevant information
Review and Critique of “The Origins Of Domain-Specificity: The Evolution of functional organization” by Cosmides. Leda, and John Tooby (1994)
Presentation by Christine Rosakranse
For Human-Media Interaction,
Professor Carlos Godoy, RPI
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*Frank van Harmelen
Neuro-symbolic (NeSy) AI is on the rise. However, simply machine learning on just any symbolic structure is not sufficient to really harvest the gains of NeSy. These will only be gained when the symbolic structures have an actual semantics. I give an operational definition of semantics as “predictable inference”.
All of this illustrated with link prediction over knowledge graphs, but the argument is general.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024Tobias Schneck
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
Let me take this questions and provide you a short journey through existing deployment models and use cases for AI software. On practical examples, we discuss what cloud/on-premise strategy we may need for applying it to our own infrastructure to get it to work from an enterprise perspective. I want to give an overview about infrastructure requirements and technologies, what could be beneficial or limiting your AI use cases in an enterprise environment. An interactive Demo will give you some insides, what approaches I got already working for real.
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf91mobiles
91mobiles recently conducted a Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey in which we asked over 3,000 respondents about the TV they own, aspects they look at on a new TV, and their TV buying preferences.
"Impact of front-end architecture on development cost", Viktor TurskyiFwdays
I have heard many times that architecture is not important for the front-end. Also, many times I have seen how developers implement features on the front-end just following the standard rules for a framework and think that this is enough to successfully launch the project, and then the project fails. How to prevent this and what approach to choose? I have launched dozens of complex projects and during the talk we will analyze which approaches have worked for me and which have not.
Let's dive deeper into the world of ODC! Ricardo Alves (OutSystems) will join us to tell all about the new Data Fabric. After that, Sezen de Bruijn (OutSystems) will get into the details on how to best design a sturdy architecture within ODC.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
JMeter webinar - integration with InfluxDB and GrafanaRTTS
Watch this recorded webinar about real-time monitoring of application performance. See how to integrate Apache JMeter, the open-source leader in performance testing, with InfluxDB, the open-source time-series database, and Grafana, the open-source analytics and visualization application.
In this webinar, we will review the benefits of leveraging InfluxDB and Grafana when executing load tests and demonstrate how these tools are used to visualize performance metrics.
Length: 30 minutes
Session Overview
-------------------------------------------
During this webinar, we will cover the following topics while demonstrating the integrations of JMeter, InfluxDB and Grafana:
- What out-of-the-box solutions are available for real-time monitoring JMeter tests?
- What are the benefits of integrating InfluxDB and Grafana into the load testing stack?
- Which features are provided by Grafana?
- Demonstration of InfluxDB and Grafana using a practice web application
To view the webinar recording, go to:
https://www.rttsweb.com/jmeter-integration-webinar
JMeter webinar - integration with InfluxDB and Grafana
Protoreportfinal
1. Christine Rosakranse
Professor Jim Zappen
Digital Rhetoric
November 5, 2009
A U G M E N T I N G H U M A N C O M PA S S I O N
V I A I N T E R A C T I V E D I G I TA L M E D I A
Grounding
While, historically, HCI literature has maintained a heavy focus on
usability, functionality, and intuitive interfaces, newer threads of theory, such
as Emotional Design (Norman, Bolter and Gromala) and Value Sensitive
Design, have entered into the mainstream, effectively demonstrating
implications for the user beyond the inherent rationale of any given system.
This line of thought leads to two key elements that are of the utmost
importance for augmenting human compassion. We find that several key
approaches in cognitive psychology and HCI have led to both the scientific
realization that change within a human mental architecture is possible and
the discovery of the most probable mechanisms for such change.1
One of the forefathers for this direction of research is Douglas
Engelbart. His paper entitled “Augmenting Human Intellect” revealed the
necessity to use technology for increasing human intellectual potential in
order to allow for more complex problem solving. Licklider and Ashby also
1Lutz A, Brefczynski-Lewis J, Johnstone T, Davidson RJ (2008) Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by
Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise. PLoS ONE 3(3): e1897. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001897
2. wrote extensively on this subject. More recently, Andy Clark writes of
“Cognitive Hybridization.” Some technologies “constitute a cascade of
mindware upgrades - cognitive upheavals in which the effective architecture
on the human mind is altered and transformed.2 ” However, as technology
does become more advanced, allowing for actual intellectual “amplification”,
we must counter this with the augmentation of compassion as well in order
to balance out the human equation. As it is now understood that certain
emergent phenomena occur within the brain as well as effecting the outside
world, we may expect to find a terrific potential for growth and mental
evolution at the intersection of intellect and compassion.
In order to fully appreciate the nature and magnitude of these
possibilities, we must borrow from the lexicon of mathematics, specifically
complex dynamics, and chemistry to allow for a more robust set of terms to
describe intelligence and compassion augmentation. The initial step of
determining terminology is key because any further study would require a
sound grounding in what factors effect compassion levels and how they do
so. Within the context of interactive digital media, these factors may be
counter-intuitive or may include non-trivial emergent properties. Having a
more exact vocabulary would undermine semantic ambiguity.
2
Clark, Andy “Natural-Born Cyborgs?” (2003), The New Humanists: science at the edge, (A
Barnes and Noble Book: New York). (pgs. 67-78). ed. John Brockman.
3. Some of the difficulty in soundly defining the concepts relevant to
compassion augmentation also stems from the family-only approach
normally taken for the development of compassion in a child’s life. It is
often seen as the responsibility of parents and families to engender this
value. The exact nature of compassion is also nebulous enough within our
society as a whole to defy easy definition. Definitions for compassion
describe a semantic range of possibilities including awareness (purely
knowledge), an emotion, or a feeling. Examples where the ambiguous
language is most obvious include the chapter on “The Nature of Compassion”
in the book Emotional Awareness, which is a conversation between the Dalai
Lama and Paul Ekman.3
As Ekman and the Dalai Lama discuss how compassion may or may
not be considered an emotion, the Dalai Lama explains, “Once the person
experiences this heightened compassion, his or her compassion retains that
kind of tone throughout the day, although the compassion itself may not
remain as a ‘felt’ state of emotion. Still, whatever the person does is affected
by that tone; in that sense, it resembles mood.” Ekman argues against this
by explaining that moods are transitory and, therefore, compassion cannot
be a mood or emotion. However, taking the neurological definition of mood
3Ekman, Paul, ed. (2008) Emotional Awareness: overcoming the obstacles to psychological balance
and compassion: a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman. Henry Holt and Company:
New York. pgs. 139-184.
4. and emotion into account, I would say that a new term is required for
defining compassion in the sense of a long-term component of one’s mental
state. One term that is used colloquially comes to mind: Nature. However,
nature has the connotation of being unchangeable and fixed. For now, the
term meta-mood will be used to describe compassion, in that it is a
sustained perceptual filter that governs the overall level of compassion of an
individual as well as the level of spontaneity and unbiasedness related to
prosocial actions.
Explanation of applicable theories and/or methods
The role of science in the arena of art is only now coming to be
realized due to the fact that it has been somewhat neglected in favor of
more easily quantifiable phenomena. The nexus of science and art will
forever be a fertile plane for conjecture, but, as the sphere of science grows
to include room for what once seemed to be purely metaphysical concerns,
additional theorizing and research will find ways to ground the effects of the
arts within a scientifically meaningful vocabulary including the terms
activation energy, emergence, agency, and meta-mood. The last term listed
is my suggestion for defining compassion as a sustained mood (or meta-
mood) associated with prosocial behavior (kindness, sympathy, etc.).
The Grounded Theory approach with selective coding will provide the
basis for the experimental design. With this approach we will use
5. observational analysis to create conceptual categories to define types of
interaction with digital media as a first step to gradually refining and
reevaluating these connections in a more formalized research setting.
The elements of engagement that we will be testing can be placed into
the following categories:
1) perceptual/cognitive
2) physiological
3) conscious or reflective interaction
4) emergent/transcendent
Other segments of the testing will examine the components care and
connectedness as related to compassion.
Figure 1. Compassion is also seen as the result of care and connectedness.
6. Qualitative methods, such as open-ended questions, will be included to
identify possible ideographic causal processes that lead to compassion
development.
Design concept
The design concept will leverage the following:
Figure 2. Compassion Augmentation Diagram
These interactive art pieces were not originally designed in order to
necessarily effect a user’s level of everyday compassion. However, this will
7. provide a broader basis for research. Two interactive digital pieces have
been chosen to allow participants to answer questions with a comparison
mentality. The space itself will also include a photo booth. The photos will
be added to a Flickr group. This is included to provide a non-art piece of
interaction for further comparison.
The stimuli
Ex 1. Fractal manipulation: Epimorphism by Gene Shuman, vibrant high precision
simulated video feedback. Method of interaction: a fractal is projected on the 4 x 6
ft screen. The user uses a midi controller (slide interface) to alter variables in the
algorithm, frequency, and color scheme of the projected fractal.
Ex 2. “Platforms” by the Aphrodite Project, http://theaphroditeproject.tv/saftey/, a
pair of Platform shoes with built-in GPS and an alarm system, designed to make
participants aware of the dangers involved in the sex worker industry.
Plan for assessment
For the purposes of qualitative assessment, a questionnaire will be
given to the participants after exposure to the interactive digital stimuli. It
will involve three sections: Engagement, Positive and Negative Affect, and
Open-Ended Questions.
Section 1:
8. Section 2:
This will include a version of the PANAS-X with the following specification:
This scale consists of a number of words and phrases that describe different feelings
and emotions. Read each item and then mark the appropriate answer in the space
next to that word. Indicate to what extent you have felt this way while interacting with
the digital media. Use the following scale to record your answers:
1 2 3 4 5
very slightly a little
moderately
quite a bit
extremely
or not at all
______ cheerful
______ sad
______ active
______ angry at self
______ disgusted ______ calm
______ guilty ______ enthusiastic
______ attentive
______ afraid
______ joyful
______ downhearted
______ bashful
______ tired
______ nervous ______ sheepish
______ sluggish
______ amazed
______ lonely
______ distressed
______ daring
______ shaky
______ sleepy ______ blameworthy
______ surprised ______ happy
______ excited
______ determined
______ strong
______ timid ______ hostile
______ frightened
______ scornful
______ alone
______ proud
______ astonished
______ relaxed
______ alert
______ jittery
______ interested
______ irritable
______ upset
______ lively
______ loathing
______ delighted
______ angry
______ ashamed
______ confident
______ inspired
______ bold
______ at ease
______ energetic
______ fearless
______ blue
______ scared
______ concentrating
______ disgusted
______ shy
______ drowsy
______ dissatisfied
with self with self
9. Section 3:
1) Which of these projects had the greatest effect on you? Why?
2) Did these projects make you feel included in the creation process?
3) Did either of these projects make you feel connected to the artist? To
people beyond the artist?
4) What could be changed to make you more interested and involved with
the art?
The proposed methods for investigation stem from the constituent
components of engagement, listed previously. Each set of questions is
designed to target certain areas. The first set of questions uses specific
words to determine the level of perceived engagement from the participant.
The PANAS-X questions help to reveal the physiological state of the
participant as well as the conscious emotions. The open-ended questions
serve to determine emergent properties of the interaction.
Future research
Additional elements and questions can be added in order to develop a
more robust version of compassion augmentation. The last component may
involve questions from the ABE (Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence) as
10. this approach may also prove relevant to the investigation. In their research,
Peterson and Seligman find ways to measure a “person feeling oneness with
the universe, a sense of truth, an inability to express experience in mere
words, and a vividness and clarity of sensations and perceptions” 4. One of
the personality characteristics that correspond with an appreciation of
beauty includes an openness to new experiences. This also provides another
direction for continuing research.
With our current approach we will use observational analysis to create
conceptual categories to define types of interaction with digital media as a
first step to gradually refine and reevaluate these connections in a more
formalized research setting. This will provide the basis for a CHI short paper
(extended abstract). Future research includes testing the change in levels of
compassion of those exposed to interactive digital media over time
(designed with the results from this research in mind). We will also be able
to research whether or not having a reflective component is necessary and
whether or not effect is an issue of intensity versus duration.
Peterson, C., & Seligman M. E. P. (2003). Values in action classification of strength.
4
Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/viamanualintro.pdf
11. Citations and bibliographic references:
Brave, S., & Nass, C. (2007). Emotion in human-computer interaction. In Sears, A. & Jacko, J (Eds.).
The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies and
Emerging Applications, 2nd Edition. (pp. 77-92). Lawrence Erlbaum
Buckner, Barbara. "Healing Interactions and Interactive Digital Art - News and Project Statement".
Afterimage. FindArticles.com. 02 Oct, 2009. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2479/
is_3_29/ai_80757497/
Clark, Andy “Natural-Born Cyborgs?” (2003), The New Humanists: science at the edge, (A Barnes
and Noble Book: New York). (pgs. 67-78). ed. John Brockman.
Crawford, John R. and Julie D. Henry (2004). The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS):
Construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non-clinical sample.
British Journal of Clinical Psychology (2004), 43, 245–265. (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~psy086/
dept/pdfs/BJCP_2004_PANAS.pdf)
Ekman, Paul, ed. (2008) Emotional Awareness: overcoming the obstacles to psychological balance and
compassion: a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman. Henry Holt and Company:
New York. pgs. 139-184.
Fledman Barrett, L. & Russell. (1999). The structure of current affect: Controversies and emerging
consensus. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8(1), 10-14.
Lutz A, Brefczynski-Lewis J, Johnstone T, Davidson RJ (2008) Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of
Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise. PLoS ONE 3(3): e1897.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001897
Peterson, C., & Seligman M. E. P. (2003). Values in action classification of strength. Retrieved
November 5, 2009, from http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/viamanualintro.pdf