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prompted by Layla Nassary Zadeh, I wanted to understand something more about the possibility of implementing augmented reality on mobile devices. Much to my surprise, this field is more advanced than I expected.

For example, a team of researchers from Nokia's Mobile Augmented Reality Applications (MARA) project has created a prototype phone that makes objects in the real world hyperlink to information on the Internet. Using the phone's built in camera, a user can highlight objects on the mobile phone's LCD and pull in additional information about them from the Internet. Moreover, by altering the orientation of the phone, the display will toggle between live view and satellite map view. In map view, nearby real world objects are highlighted for convenient reference.

The prototype consists of Nokia S60 platform phone and attached external sensor box providing position and orientation information to the phone via a Bluetooth connection

This video of downtown Helsinki shows some Virtual Object - associated landmarks, and demonstrates the automatic switching between Augmented Reality mode and Map mode that happens when the user alternates between holding the phone vertically and horizontally.

MARA was demonstrated at the fifth IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality in Santa Barbara in October.

Motor imagery and EEG-based control of spelling devices and neuroprostheses.

Prog Brain Res. 2006;159:393-409

Authors: Neuper C, Müller-Putz GR, Scherer R, Pfurtscheller G

A brain-computer interface (BCI) transforms signals originating from the human brain into commands that can control devices or applications. With this, a BCI provides a new non-muscular communication channel, which can be used to assist patients who have highly compromised motor functions. The Graz-BCI uses motor imagery and associated oscillatory EEG signals from the sensorimotor cortex for device control. As a result of research in the past 15 years, the classification of ERD/ERS patterns in single EEG trials during motor execution and motor imagery forms the basis of this sensorimotor-rhythm controlled BCI. The major frequency bands of cortical oscillations considered here are the 8-13 and 15-30Hz bands. This chapter describes the basic methods used in Graz-BCI research and outlines possible clinical applications.

Motor imagery practice in gait rehabilitation of chronic post-stroke hemiparesis: four case studies.

Int J Rehabil Res. 2006 Dec;29(4):351-356

Authors: Dunsky A, Dickstein R, Ariav C, Deutsch J, Marcovitz E

The aim of this series of pilot case studies was to examine the feasibility of enhancing the walking of individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis through the imagery practice of gait activities at home. Four persons with chronic hemiparesis received imagery gait practice, 3 days a week for 6 weeks. The intervention addressed gait impairments of the affected lower limb and task-specific gait training. Pre-intervention, mid-term, post-intervention and follow-up evaluations were performed. At 6 weeks from the beginning of treatment, the participants increased walking speed, stride length, cadence and single-support time on the affected lower limb, while decreasing double-support time. The findings appear to justify the institution of a larger-scale study in order to better delineate the contribution of motor imagery practice to gait performance in individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis.

Short-Term Autonomic and Cardiovascular Effects of Mindfulness Body Scan Meditation.

Ann Behav Med. 2006;32(3):227-234

Authors: Ditto B, Eclache M, Goldman N

Background: Recent research suggests that the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program has positive effects on health, but little is known about the immediate physiological effects of different components of the program. Purpose: To examine the short-term autonomic and cardiovascular effects of one of the techniques employed in mindfulness meditation training, a basic body scan meditation. Methods: In Study 1, 32 healthy young adults (23 women, 9 men) were assigned randomly to either a meditation, progressive muscular relaxation or wait-list control group. Each participated in two laboratory sessions 4 weeks apart in which they practiced their assigned technique. In Study 2, using a within-subjects design, 30 healthy young adults (15 women, 15 men) participated in two laboratory sessions in which they practiced meditation or listened to an audiotape of a popular novel in counterbalanced order. Heart rate, cardiac respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and blood pressure were measured in both studies. Additional measures derived from impedance cardiography were obtained in Study 2. Results: In both studies, participants displayed significantly greater increases in RSA while meditating than while engaging in other relaxing activities. A significant decrease in cardiac pre-ejection period was observed while participants meditated in Study 2. This suggests that simultaneous increases in cardiac parasympathetic and sympathetic activity may explain the lack of an effect on heart rate. Female participants in Study 2 exhibited a significantly larger decrease in diastolic blood pressure during meditation than the novel, whereas men had greater increases in cardiac output during meditation compared to the novel. Conclusions: The results indicate both similarities and differences in the physiological responses to body scan meditation and other relaxing activities.

Via Mind Hacks

Synesthete.org is a website where you can test yourself for synaesthesia - the condition where senses are crossed so, for example, you might be able to taste shapes or see colours associated with specific numbers. The site is run by the Eagleman Lab at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Via the Neurophilosopher

Josh Bongard, Victor Zykov and Hod Limpton of Cornell University’s Computational Synthesis Laboratory have designed and built the Black Starfish, a four-legged robot which “automatically synthesizes a predictive model of its own topology (where and how its body parts are connected) through limited yet self-directed interaction with its environment, and then uses this model to synthesize successful new locomotive behavior before and after damage.”

Via Neurobot 

Brain-machine interfaces promise to aid paralyzed patients by re-routing movement-related signals around damaged parts of the nervous system.

a web focus by Nature

Self-regulation of slow cortical potentials: a new treatment for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Pediatrics. 2006 Nov;118(5):e1530-40

Authors: Strehl U, Leins U, Goth G, Klinger C, Hinterberger T, Birbaumer N

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of self-regulation of slow cortical potentials for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Slow cortical potentials are slow event-related direct-current shifts of the electroencephalogram. Slow cortical potential shifts in the electrical negative direction reflect the depolarization of large cortical cell assemblies, reducing their excitation threshold. This training aims at regulation of cortical excitation thresholds considered to be impaired in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Electroencephalographic data from the training and the 6-month follow-up are reported, as are changes in behavior and cognition. METHOD: Twenty-three children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder aged between 8 and 13 years received 30 sessions of self-regulation training of slow cortical potentials in 3 phases of 10 sessions each. Increasing and decreasing slow cortical potentials at central brain regions was fed back visually and auditorily. Transfer trials without feedback were intermixed with feedback trials to allow generalization to everyday-life situations. In addition to the neurofeedback sessions, children exercised during the third training phase to apply the self-regulation strategy while doing their homework. RESULTS: For the first time, electroencephalographic data during the course of slow cortical potential neurofeedback are reported. Measurement before and after the trials showed that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder learn to regulate negative slow cortical potentials. After training, significant improvement in behavior, attention, and IQ score was observed. The behavior ratings included Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria, number of problems, and social behavior at school and were conducted by parents and teachers. The cognitive variables were assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and with a computerized test battery that measures several components of attention. All changes proved to be stable at 6 months' follow-up after the end of training. Clinical outcome was predicted by the ability to produce negative potential shifts in transfer sessions without feedback. CONCLUSIONS: According to the guidelines of the efficacy of treatments, the evidence of the efficacy of slow cortical potential feedback found in this study reaches level 2: "possibly efficacious." In the absence of a control group, no causal relationship between observed improvements and the ability to regulate brain activity can be made. However, it could be shown for the first time that good performance in self-regulation predicts clinical outcome. "Good performance" was defined as the ability to produce negative potential shifts in trials without feedback, because it is known that the ability to self-regulate without feedback is impaired in children and adults with attention problems. Additional research should focus on the control of unspecific effects, medication, and subtypes to confirm the assumption that slow cortical potential feedback is a viable treatment option for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Regulation of slow cortical potentials may involve similar neurobiological pathways as medical treatment. It is suggested that regulation of frontocentral negative slow cortical potentials affects the cholinergic-dopaminergic balance and allows children to adapt to task requirements more flexibly.

From the ENACTIVE project website:

The general objective of the ENACTIVE Network is the creation of a multidisciplinary research community with the aim of structuring the research on a new generation of human-computer interfaces called Enactive Interfaces.

Enactive Interfaces are related to a fundamental “interaction” concept which is not exploited by most of the existing human-computer interface technologies. As stated by the famous cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner, the traditional interaction with the information mediated by a computer is mostly based on symbolic or iconic knowledge, and not on enactive knowledge. While in the symbolic way of learning knowledge is stored as words, mathematical symbols or other symbol systems, in the iconic stage knowledge is stored in the form of visual images, such as diagrams and illustrations that can accompany verbal information. On the other hand, enactive knowledge is a form of knowledge based on the active use of the hand for apprehension tasks.

Enactive knowledge is not simply multisensory mediated knowledge, but knowledge stored in the form of motor responses and acquired by the act of "doing". A typical example of enactive knowledge is constituted by the competence required by tasks such as typing, driving a car, dancing, playing a musical instrument, modelling objects from clay, which would be difficult to describe in an iconic or symbolic form. This type of knowledge transmission can be considered the most direct, in the sense that it is natural and intuitive, since it is based on the experience and on the perceptual responses to motor acts.

 

Enactive activities 

List of participants

From Wikipedia 

Enactive Interfaces are new types of Human-Computer Interface that allow to express and transmit the Enactive knowledge by integrating different sensory aspects.

The driving concept of Enactive Interfaces is then the fundamental role of motor action for storing and acquiring knowledge (action driven interfaces). Enactive Interfaces are then capable of conveying and understanding gestures of the user, in order to provide an adequate response in perceptual terms. Enactive Interfaces can be considered a new step in the development of the human-computer interaction because they are characterized by a closed loop between the natural gestures of the user (efferent component of the system) and the perceptual modalities activated (afferent component). Enactive Interfaces can be conceived to exploit this direct loop and the capability of recognising complex gestures.

 

The development of such interfaces requires the creation of a common vision between different research areas like Computer Vision, Haptic and Sound processing, giving more attention on the motor action aspect of interaction. An example of prototypical systems that are able to introduce Enactive Interfaces are Reactive Robots, robots that are always in contact with the human hand and are capable of interpreting the human movements and guiding the human for the completion of a manipulation task.

Sant'Anna School of Advanced and Universitary Studies in Pisa offers the opportunity to undertake in-depth research on Presence and Advanced Robotics technologies for the interaction in Virtual Environments and Teleoperation.

The proposed research applications deals with the cognitive aspects of human multimodal interaction based on the act of doing and thus are strictly related to the ongoing activities carried out in the ENACTIVE Network of Excellence.

For more information go here

Multimedia Interaction and Smart Environments group (MISE), CREATE-NET research institute, Trento, ITALY.

Position Description

A full-time two year post-doctoral research position in Human Computer Interaction is available starting on January 2007. The research and development activity will be conducted within the IST European project SAMBA on Interactive Digital Television (iDTV) in collaboration with both European and Brazilian partners.

SAMBA is a two year International Cooperation project led by CREATE-NET and has the objective of creating a framework for allowing local communities and citizens (including low income population) to access community-oriented content and services by means of iDTV channels. SAMBA will also explore the potentials of utilization of iDTV within mobile virtual communities and its possible impact for the creation of future services and business models related to fixed and mobile iDTV market. In its activity, SAMBA will be particularly careful in analyzing Human Factors and usability issues during its whole duration and will set up real on the field experiments which will allow evaluating users' experiences and their social inclusion.

The post-doctoral researcher is expected to be involved in or responsible of the following:

- Research activities related to user centered design and user interface prototyping.
- Usability evaluation and testing
- Presentation of research results in the form of journal publications, conference presentations and project reports etc.
- International collaboration with the other European and Brazilian research groups involved in the project.

Qualifications

Successful candidates should have a Ph.D. in Human Computer Interaction or related fields with interest in iDTV. In particular, research experience in user centered design, user requirements definition, user acceptance analysis and/or on usability testing are required. Applicants must also have the ability to work independently and interact with other member of the team. Strong interpersonal skills, good writing and oral communication skills are also required.

Please send electronically your resume and publication list to:
Oscar Mayora: oscar.mayora@create-net.org

I write this post from the cold (well, not so cold as I expected) Helsinki, where I am attending the “Information Society Technology 2006” conference.

The exhibition contains quite a lot of interesting stuff this year, from portable brain-computer interface (project PRESENCCIA) to 3D television.

Beyond applications, I am learning a lot about the opportunities for funding offered by the 7th framework program, the EU's chief instrument for funding scientific research and technological development over the period 2007 to 2013.

The good news is that the EU plans to invest over €9 billion in research on information and communications technologies. This is, by far, the largest single budget item in FP7 programme. 

If you want to discover more about the ICT research to be funded under the Seventh Framework Programme you may visit the dedicated website just launched on the CORDIS platform.

A further interesting initiative is Living Lab, which aims to set up a new European innovation infrastructure where users play an active role in the innovation. The initiative was launched yesterday in Espoo, Finland.

From the infosociety website:

(20/11/2006) Living labs move research out of laboratories into real-life contexts to stimulate innovation. This allows citizens to influence research, design and product development. Users are encouraged to co-operate closely with researchers, developers and designers to test ideas and prototypes.

Functioning as Public-Private Partnerships, especially at regional and local level, living labs provide some advantages over "closed labs": They stimulate new ideas, provide concrete research challenges and allow for continuous validation of research results. At a pan-European level, a large-scale network of living labs could become a strong tool for making the innovation process of industry more efficient and dynamic by stimulating the involvement of citizens of differing cultures and societal backgrounds who can provide rich feedback in context on the use and impact of the technologies being researched.

The European Network of Living Labs is launched just as a large group of experts gathers in Finland for the IST Event 2006. Several conference sessions will explore in detail the living labs approach, and offer researchers across Europe the opportunity to become involved.

The concept has already been embraced by industry and other stakeholder organisations. Concrete examples of living labs already operating include the Helsinki Living Lab (in Arabianranta), Mobile City Bremen in Germany, the Botnia Lining Lab in Sweden and Freeband in the Netherlands.

 

Launching Event

Speech of Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen

IST 2006 Networking session

Latest news

Computer- and robot-aided head surgery.

Acta Neurochir Suppl. 2006;98:51-61

Authors: Wörn H

In this paper new methods and devices for computer and robot based head surgery are presented. A computer based planning system for CMF-surgery allows the surgeon to plan complex trajectories on the head of the patient for operations where bone segments were cut out and shifted. Different registration methods have been developed and tested. A surgical robot system for bone cutting on the head has been developed and evaluated at the patient in the operating theatre. In future, laser cutting of bones with a robot will be seen as a new powerful method for robot based surgery. A 3D augmented reality system will assist the surgeon in the future by augmenting virtual anatomical structure into the situs.

Brain-computer interface technology as a tool to augment plasticity and outcomes for neurological rehabilitation.

J Physiol. 2006 Nov 9

Authors: Dobkin BH

Brain-computer interfaces are a rehabilitation tool for tetraplegic patients that aim to improve quality of life by augmenting communication, control of the environment, and self-care. The neurobiology of both rehabilitation and BCI control depends upon learning to modify the efficacy of spared neural ensembles that represent movement, sensation, and cognition through progressive practice with feedback and reward. To serve patients, BCI systems must become safe, reliable, cosmetically acceptable, quickly mastered with minimal ongoing technical support, and highly accurate even in the face of mental distractions and the uncontrolled environment beyond a laboratory. BCI technologies may raise ethical concerns if their availability affects the decisions of patients who become locked-in with brain stem stroke or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to be sustained with ventilator support. If BCI technology becomes flexible and affordable, volitional control of cortical signals could be employed for the rehabilitation of motor and cognitive impairments in hemiplegic or paraplegic patients by offering on-line feedback about cortical activity associated with mental practice, motor intention, and other neural recruitment strategies during progressive task-oriented practice. Clinical trials with measures of quality of life will be necessary to demonstrate the value of near-term and future BCI applications.

Via Frontal Cortex

The New York Times reports that British scientists have built an apparatus that simulates human digestion.

From the article:

Constructed from sophisticated plastics and metals able to withstand the corrosive acids and enzymes found in the human gut, the device may ultimately help in the development of super-nutrients, such as obesity-fighting foods that could fool the stomach into thinking it is full.

''There have been lots of jam-jar models of digestion before,'' said Dr. Martin Wickham of Norwich's Institute of Food Research, the artificial gut's chief designer, referring to the beakers of enzymes typically used to approximate the chemical reactions in the stomach.

Wickham's patented artificial gut is a two-part model that is slightly larger than a desktop computer. The top half consists of a funnel in which food, stomach acids and digestive enzymes are mixed. Once this hydration process is finished, the food gets ground down in a silver metal tube encased in a dark, transparent box.

Software sets the parameters of the artificial gut - how long food remains in a particular part of the stomach, predicted hormone responses at various stages, and whether it is an infant or adult gut.

(...)

With a capacity about half the size of an actual stomach, the artificial gut can ''eat'' roughly 24 ounces of food. To date, the most substantial meal it's enjoyed is vegetable soup.

''It's so realistic that it can even vomit,'' adds Wickham.

 

Read the full story here

Re-blogged from Smart Mobs

Technnorati has posted the State of the Blogosphere, October, 2006. [via Joi Ito]

As of October 2006, about 100,000 new weblogs were created each day, which means that on average, there was a slight decrease quarter-over-quarter in the number of new blogs created each day.

...The total posting volume of the blogosphere has leveled off somewhat, showing about 1.3 million postings per day, which is a little lower than what we were seeing last quarter but still about double the volume of this time last year. ...

The following is a paid review

ReviewMe is a service that pays bloggers to write about advertisers’ products. It's similar to PayPerPost (an automated system that allows users to promote their web site, product, service, or company through the PayPerPost network of bloggers) but with better payouts and a focus on reviews. Actually, bloggers must disclose that the review is a paid advertisement (as I have done at the beginning of this post).

To determine the importance of a blog, ReviewMe  uses an algorithm based on Alexa, Technorati and charges a different fee for each blog based on the calculation. Blogger payments range from $30 - $1,000 per post. The factors considered include the theme, estimated traffic, link popularity, and estimated RSS subscribers.

Also, advertisers can purchase posts, but they cannot require that a post is positive. The blogger can choose to write their honest opinion without fear of not being paid. The only requirement is that the review must be a minimum of 200 words.

Reviewme is giving away $25,000 today to pay bloggers to write about the service.

Here are the four simple steps you have to follow in order to get paid to review products and services on your site:

1. Submit your site for inclusion into our ReviewMe publisher network.  
2. If approved, your site will enter our ReviewMe marketplace and clients will purchase reviews from you.
3. You decide to accept the review or not.
4. You will be paid $20.00 to $200.00 for each completed review that you post on your site.

The company is backed by TechCrunch-sponsor

A great catch by the always-interesting NeuroFuture:

BrainWaves is a musical performance by cultured cortical cells interfacing with multielectrode arrays. Eight electrodes recorded neural patterns that were filtered to eight speakers after being sonified by robotic and human interpretation. Sound patterns followed neural spikes and waveforms, and also extended to video, with live visualizations of the music and neural patterns in front of a mesmerized audience. See a two minute video here (still image below). Teams from two research labs designed and engineered the project; read more from collaborator Gil Weinberg.