Positive Technology Journal

Via Experientia 

In this thought-provoking article entitled "No more SMS from Jesus: ubicomp, religion and techno-spiritual practices", Genevieve Bell, a researcher in anthropology and director of user experience at Intel, discusses the use of information technologies in religious practices:  

Abstract. Over the last decade, new information and communication technologies have lived a secret life. For individuals and institutions around the world, this constellation of mobile phones, personal computers, the internet, software, games, and other computing objects have supported a complex set of religious and spiritual needs. In this paper, I offer a survey of emerging and emergent techno-spiritual practices, and the anxieties surrounding their uptake. I am interested in particular in the ways in which religious uses of technology represent not only a critique of dominant visions of technology’s futures, but also suggest a very different path(s) for ubiquitous computing's technology envisioning and development

 

 

The article was presented at the conference Ubicomp 2006. Full text is available here

Via Leeander.com

Want to make a successful powerpoint presentation? Keep these few simple rules in mind (credits to Alexei Kapterev)

Cue-exposure therapy to decrease alcohol craving in virtual environment.

Cyberpsychol Behav. 2007 Oct;10(5):617-23

Authors: Lee JH, Kwon H, Choi J, Yang BH

During abstinence from alcohol, craving is elicited by the cues and contexts previously associated with alcohol, which contribute to relapse. To prevent the craving and relapse experienced by alcoholics, cue-exposure therapy (CET) has been used to extinguish the association between alcohol and alcohol-related cues and contexts. This study applied CET, using a virtual reality (VR) system, to eight members of an Alcoholics Anonymous group for eight sessions. Cues and contexts most likely to elicit an urge to drink were selected through a preliminary survey in order to compose VR-CET scenarios: a glass, a bottle, food, and a bar were judged to be the most tempting for people in alcohol dependence and abstinence. Using these cues and contexts, a Japanese-style pub and a western bar were created. Each session was administered for 30 minutes by a psychiatrist and included an introduction, immersion, VR navigation, interviews about feelings, and self-report questionnaires about cravings. The eight sessions consisted of initial and closing sessions and person-, object-, and situation-focused sessions. As a result, a reduction in cue-elicited craving after VR-CET was reported. A mean score of 15.75 (SD = 10.91) on the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire in the first session decreased to 11.50 (SD = 5.76) in the final session. This study suggests that using virtual reality can enhance the effectiveness of CET.

Psychosocial stress evoked by a virtual audience: relation to neuroendocrine activity.

Cyberpsychol Behav. 2007 Oct;10(5):655-62

Authors: Kelly O, Matheson K, Martinez A, Merali Z, Anisman H

A modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was employed to determine whether exposure to a virtual audience using virtual reality (VR) technology would prompt an increase of neuroendocrine activity comparable to that prompted by a real audience. Following an anticipatory period, participants completed a speech or a speech-plus-math challenge in front of either a virtual audience, a panel of judges they were led to believe was behind a one-way mirror, or an audience comprised of confederates. An additional group that had prepared a speech was simply directed to observe the virtual audience but did not deliver the speech. Finally, a control group completed questionnaires for the duration of the experiment. Cortisol samples were obtained upon arrival to the laboratory, just before the challenge, and 15 and 30 minutes after the task. Participants also completed a measure assessing stressor appraisals of the task before and after the challenge. Anticipation of the task was associated with a modest increase of cortisol levels, and a further rise of cortisol was evident in response to the challenge. The neuroendocrine changes evoked by the virtual audience were comparable to those elicited by the imagined audience (behind the one-way mirror) but less than changes evoked by the panel of confederates. Stressor appraisals were higher post-challenge compared to those reported prior to the task; however, appraisals were similar across each group. These data suggest that VR technology may be amenable to evaluating the impact of psychosocial stressors such as the TSST.

Via Textually.org [via Reuters]

Colorado's STEPP and Denver-based ad agency Cactus developed a message system on cell phones with an Internet quit program.

Initially aimed at high school students in Colorado, the state hopes to soon share its fledgling FixNixer program as a technique for all age groups and geographies.

QuitNet.com, one of the most established Web sites for quitting, is also considering more tailored messages to users of its site and a foray into mobile, while quit support groups are popping up on social networks MySpace and Facebook.

Great catch by Pink Tentacle: researchers at Keio University Biomedical Engineering Laboratory have developed a brain-computer interface that allows the user controlling his avatar in Second Life by thinking about movements — the avatar walks forward when the user thinks about moving his/her own feet, and it turns right and left when the user imagines moving his/her right and left arms. A future goal is to improve the system and make Second Life avatars perform more complex movements and gestures.

video (14,9 MB)

Via KurzweilAI.net (CNET News.Com)

Virtual-worlds platform developer Multiverse Network is set to announce a partnership tuesday that will allow anyone to create a new online interactive 3D environment with just about any model from Google's online repository of 3D models, its 3D Warehouse, as well as terrain from Google Earth.

Another project is SceneCaster, a new technology unveiled at last week's Demo conference that allows anyone to make 3D "scenes" incorporating models from the 3D Warehouse that can then be attached to blogs or Facebook pages or even to Flickr.

Read Original Article

Via New Scientist Invention Blog 

 


Researchers at Yamaguchi University in Japan have applied for a patent describing a heat pipe installed over the brain that would allow it to be cooled and prevent epileptic fits in susceptible people.  

read full brain radiator patent

Concentrative meditation enhances preattentive processing: a mismatch negativity study.

Neuroreport. 2007 Oct 29;18(16):1709-1712

Authors: Srinivasan N, Baijal S

Preservation of motor programs in paraplegics as demonstrated by attempted and imagined foot movements.

Neuroimage. 2007 Aug 23;

Authors: Hotz-Boendermaker S, Funk M, Summers P, Brugger P, Hepp-Reymond MC, Curt A, Kollias SS

Execution and imagination of movement activate distinct neural circuits, partially overlapping in premotor and parietal areas, basal ganglia and cerebellum. Can long-term deafferented/deefferented patients still differentiate attempted from imagined movements? The attempted execution and motor imagery network of foot movements have been investigated in nine chronic complete spinal cord-injured (SCI) patients using fMRI. Thorough behavioral assessment showed that these patients were able to differentiate between attempted execution and motor imagery. Supporting the outcome of the behavioral assessment, fMRI disclosed specific patterns of activation for movement attempt and for motor imagery. Compared with motor execution data of healthy controls, movement attempt in SCI patients revealed reduced primary motor cortex activation at the group level, although activation was found in all single subjects with a high variability. Further comparisons with healthy subjects revealed that during attempt and motor imagery, SCI patients show enhanced activation and recruitment of additional regions in the parietal lobe and cerebellum that are important in sensorimotor integration. These findings reflect central plastic changes due to altered input and output and suggest that SCI patients may require additional cognitive resources to perform these tasks that may be one and the same phenomenon, or two versions of the same phenomenon, with quantitative differences between the two. Nevertheless, the retained integrity of movement attempt and motor imagery networks in SCI patients demonstrates that chronic paraplegics can still dispose of the full motor programs for foot movements and that therefore, attempted and imagined movements should be integrated in rehabilitative strategies.

Via Science Daily

Researchers at Tufts University are developing a system that allows to monitor user experiences while working. The system is based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology that uses light to monitor brain blood flow as a proxy for workload stress a user may experience when performing an increasingly difficult task to respond to users' thoughts of frustration or boredom.

Via Medgadget

Doctors at Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital are using the new Nintendo video game console to help stroke victims recover.

Video 

Via Pink Tentacle

The Teleglass T4-N wearable monitor weighs 30 grams and features titanium frames by eyeglass designer Kazuo Kawasaki. The device supports any NTSC-capable video player (including iPods) and delivers images directly to the eye via a pair of tiny monitors tucked away behind the lenses. The 640 x 480 screen resolution at close proximity simulates the effect of watching a 45-inch screen from 2 meters (6 feet) away.

500 sets are available through the Scalar website, where they sell for 134,400 yen ($1,150) each.

Decode is a multimedia exhibition showcasing the work of two artists: Jason Van Anden and Christy Matson. Experienced in traditional art-making processes - Van Anden in sculpture and Matson in weaving - both have integrated time honored methods with digital technologies. From sounds and projections to video games and robots, Van Anden and Matson’s work engages the senses and challenges perceptions in compelling and innovative ways.

Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild’s Kerr Gallery will feature Jason Van Anden’s life-sized emotive robots, Neil and Iona. The week preceding this opening, Van Anden will conduct a workshop with 10-12 students from Pittsburgh Schools at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild on Pittsburgh’s North side. Students participating in this workshop will be challenged to collaborate in the creation of an interactive piece that explores improvisational concepts and is inspired by the artist’s online videogame Farklempt!

Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild is a multi-discipline arts and learning center that complements traditional humanities education with studio-based art and performance programs that help catalyze academic achievement. MCG Youth serves Pittsburgh School students through year-round programs and, in conjunction with MCG Arts, promotes cultural discovery and empathy by connecting diverse accomplished artists to young people and their communities.

Neil and Iona made possible thanks to the generous support of the Finishing Fund.

Mastery of the Mind East and West: Excellence in Being and Doing and Everyday Happiness.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Sep 28;

Authors: Brown DP

Western psychological research on positive psychology and Buddhism have recently converged in their emphasis on the development of positive states, like states of excellence and veryday happiness. Yet, these traditions differ in their approaches to positive states, with respect to a state-trait and doing-being distinction. Western scientific research on peak performance emphasizes discontinuous, time-limited peak performance states wherein individuals do things extraordinarily well in sports and in the arts. The Eastern spiritual traditions emphasize continuous excellence of being, in the form of traits or character strengths. In both traditions mental imagery is a key ingredient to excellence training. With respect to everyday happiness, Western psychological research has focused on the role of meaning systems in the transformation of flow states into vital engagement in everyday life, while Buddhism stresses the role of meditation training to gain mastery over all levels of mind that leads to everyday happiness. Rorschach and tachistoscopic research on advanced meditators suggests that advance meditators have gained unusual mastery over states of mind not yet documented in the Western psychological research on positive psychology.

Promoting mindfulness in psychotherapists in training influences the treatment results of their patients: a randomized, double-blind, controlled study.

Psychother Psychosom. 2007;76(6):332-8

Authors: Grepmair L, Mitterlehner F, Loew T, Bachler E, Rother W, Nickel M

BACKGROUND: All therapists direct their attention in some manner during psychotherapy. A special form of directing attention, 'mindfulness', is recommended. This study aimed to examine whether, and to what extent, promoting mindfulness in psychotherapists in training (PiT) influences the treatment results of their patients. METHODS: The therapeutic course and treatment results of 124 inpatients, who were treated for 9 weeks by 18 PiTs, were compared. The PiTs were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: (i) those practicing Zen meditation (MED; n = 9 or (ii) control group, which did not perform meditation (noMED; n = 9). The results of treatment (according to the intent-to-treat principle) were examined using the Session Questionnaire for General and Differential Individual Psychotherapy (STEP), the Questionnaire of Changes in Experience and Behavior (VEV) and the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R). RESULTS: Compared to the noMED group (n = 61), the patients of PiTs from the MED group (n = 63) had significantly higher evaluations (according to the intent-to-treat principle) for individual therapy on 2 STEP scales, clarification and problem-solving perspectives. Their evaluations were also significantly higher for the entire therapeutic result on the VEV. Furthermore, the MED group showed greater symptom reduction than the noMED group on the Global Severity Index and 8 SCL-90-R scales, including Somatization, Insecurity in Social Contact, Obsessiveness, Anxiety, Anger/Hostility, Phobic Anxiety, Paranoid Thinking and Psychoticism. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that promoting mindfulness in PiTs could positively influence the therapeutic course and treatment results in their patients.

Via Neurobot

Dates: 7-8 December, 2007

Organizers:
Jan Peters (Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics & USC), Marc Toussaint (Technical University of Berlin)

http://www.robot-learning.de
email: nips07@robot-learning.de