Archive for the 'Dissertation' Category
This is a sound sample of the ambisonic recording, it is severely reduced in quality, as it needed to be compressed before uploading it to my site. This is a sound sample of the ambisonic recording, it is severely reduced in quality, as it needed to be compressed before uploading it to my site:
As part of the research for my dissertation, I went along to see ‘The Mind Cupola’ an “Affective Environment” it is an installation that has built in heat sensor equipment. It also has face recognition software, to allow the viewer to “passively” interact with a visualization in front of them in order to achieve a state of ‘equilibrium’. Sound is generated by the heat from the person, and fans are built into the machine to heat or cool the person to help them achieve a neural state.
This is an example of an immersive environment different to the dome, and using different modalities than i will attempt to use.
Using embodied cognition instrumentation how can ones mental state alter Immersive media artwork?
How does the mental realm affect the physical realm? Can conscious thoughts, emotional states and reactions be quantified, and if so what instrumentation is used to quantify such things. How can it be visualised within immersive cinema. I want to investigate developments in neuroscience technology and technologies within immersive environments. How vection and perception have a vital role in immersive theatre.
Ramachandran (2004) argues that “your concious life in short, is nothing but a post-hoc rationalization of things you really do for other reasons”
So to what extent may your reaction be of your own choosing? I am interested in the variables that may affect someone’s mental state and ultimately affect artwork visualised using their brain power and reaction.
Embodied cognition is interdisciplinary research that can include neuroscience, philosophy, social science and technology. With my main focus on technology I wish to look at how it may be used in an artistic context. There are many arguments in philosophy about “the self” and free will, how much is physical and how much is “metaphysical”, the idea that emotions like happiness or love could be compartmentalised within neuroscience to be a quantifiable increase in serotonin or endorphins etc… This begs the question: “what is physical?”.
I would like to investigate the subconscious mind, and how this relates to our conscious decisions and reactions. I wish to develop my research within a phycological and perhaps sociological context, including the different variables that may lead to changing the visualisations up on screen, such as a crowd in the dome at one time, or a single user un-influenced by anyone around them. Using this space as one form of interactive architecture I am interested in the user unique user experience…how certain elements may lead to a different visualisation and then will the altered visualisation produce further brain activity and reactions that will change the look once again.
The Immersive media and embodied cognition are moving forward very rapidly, with a lot of research being conducted and a lot of developments are being made. I am going to also try and explain why how progress had been made over time and investigate behaviours and reactions to different types of media throughout history and why these technological advances have lead to the demand for immersive theatres and imax’s etc… Also what further implications combining these technological advancements my have within art, immersive cinema and interactive architecture.
After meeting my dissertation tutor to discuss my ideas it would seem that my field of research is far to broad, encompassing neuroscience, philosophy, social science, phycology, immersive technology to name a few. Involving ideas of conscious and sub-conscious, “epiphenomenalism” and the idea of “self” or will power. I am told that as an undergraduate this is not viable unfortunately.
So… what next?
I think my first steps are to research instrumentation used in fields where these previously mentioned topics are quantified.
Hmm… I’m still a long way from Kansas
Subconscious activity, interactive architecture and temporization.
“your concious life in short, is nothing but a post-hoc rationalization of things you really do for other reasons” (2004, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran)
Recently I have been looking into developments within neuroscience and the subconscious mind, something else that had interest’s me is behaviours of people within a given space. Its originally one of Sigmund Freud’s theories that people act on mass, for subconscious reasons, his nephew Eddie Bernaise was the first to capitalize on this theory, by inventing public relations and exploiting people subconscious desires. So maybe it exists on a smaller scale… The table below is an example of different spaces, where behaviours are ubiquitous:
| Space | Common Behaviours: |
| Tube, London underground | Unfriendly, no eye contact for long periods, morose, reserved, seemingly formal, quick movements |
| Football stadiums | Loud, friendly, a certain animality present, chants, celebration, team spirit |
| pub | Loud, friendly, drunk, relaxed |
| Student library | Quiet, busy, less fast movement |
| Meeting room | Formal, talkative, reserved |
| Gigs | Singing, dancing, friendly, screaming, throwing underwear on stage |
So…. my point is that people in groups act exactly the same; there is a well established etiquette for certain
spaces/activities, but why? For example, many students go to the library to work due to less distractions, furthermore if everyone else in the library is helping create a distinct atmosphere then it is easier to do as the others and behave similarly…. Football stadiums is another example where two lots of people will act exactly the same…the people wouldn’t be anywhere near as excitable and boisterous if the game they witnessed was in with significantly smaller group and setting….the park perhaps, with only a few people watching! There are seemingly obvious reasons why people act a certain way in a given space, but how did it this space develop over time, how do architectures alter peoples subconscious behaviours?
In my work I wish to look at this idea, especially within the Immersive environments, and find out whether I can measure peoples behaviours or emotional states over a given time frame, to later visulise this, potentially measuring peoples reactions to certain content, what variables are there? Age? Seating position? Context?
“My plan is over the next few weeks to establish how I could transform visualisations on a dome screen using nothing but the people in there watching; along with their emotional and behavioural states.”
Inputs might include a galvanic skin response, movement or heat sensing… the data and scientific findings are secondary; my aim is not to prove a sociological theory (primarily) but instead to explore different avenues of various developing technologies, interactive architecture and the subject of temporality within the aforementioned context.
My plan is over the next few weeks to establish how I could transform visualisations on a dome screen using nothing but the people in there watching; along with their emotional and behavioural states.
In the next few weeks I have various people to contact about my idea, and find ways of using the inputs to control a visualisation… this could be pre-recorded data or perhaps, real time. I also need to look into technology required to implement such a thing.
