Positive Technology Journal

Via VRPSYCH mailing list

The Institute of Rural Health at the Idaho State University has announced the following webconferencing session:

Online Communities and Virtual Worlds for Patient and Caregiver Self-Help Groups

Meeting Date and Time: APRIL 20, NOON-1:00 PM MDT (Mountain Daylight Time)
Presenter: John Lester

Online communities offer a unique opportunity for patients and caregivers to share experiences and emotional support with people across the world. John Lester will discuss his experiences with Braintalk Communities (www.braintalk.org), which offers hundreds of forums and chatrooms for self-help support groups focused on a wide range of neurological disorders.
Started in 1993, Braintalk continues to explore new models of online communities and support. John will describe the growth and evolution of Braintalk as well as his work using the 3-d virtual world of Second Life ( www.secondlife.com) to create new online communities supporting people dealing with Asperger's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and Stroke Survivors. He will also summarize how different groups of patients and caregivers can use vastly different communication modalities to help them deal with unique conditions.

John Lester Bio:
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John Lester joined Linden Lab (the creators of Second Life) in 2005, bringing experience in online community development as well as a background in the fields of healthcare and education. Previously he was the Information Technology Director in the Neurology Service at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he pioneered the use of the web in 1993 to create online communities for supporting patients dealing with neurological disorders. He also held an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School , where he created online collaborative environments for professors and students to advance the case-based teaching method in medical education. John created and continues to manage BrainTalk Communities, a non-profit organization who's mission is to provide online environments for patient and caregiver self-help groups focused on neurological disorders.

HOW TO JOIN THE WEBCONFERENCE?
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Cut and paste the entire link below including the meeting_id in the address text box of your internet browser.

Session Link:

Via Smart Mobs

The Well's Inkwell Conference features a discussion with Adam Greenfield, author of Everyware:

Computing devices shrink ever smaller and become invisible, while at the same time we interact with them and they communicate with one another. Rather than carrying phones and PDAs, our desks, rooms, and clothing, our food and our sex toys converge, interconnect, and interact. Their connectedness is hidden from us, we don't control the information they record, and there's no "Undo" key.

"Great, another loopy novelist in the Inkwell, extrapolating from a random headline in a trade journal," you say.

It's not loopy fiction, according to Adam Greenfield. Instead, it's the form computing will take in the next few years, and it behooves us to think it through in advance, in order both to understand it and humanize it. That's the subject of "Everyware: The dawning age of ubiquitous computing."

Join Adam Greenfield from the beginning of the conversation or catch up on the latest posts

The technique involves hooking people up to electrodes and getting them to try and control their brain waves. In people with autism, the "mu" wave is thought to be dysfunctional. Since this wave is associated with "mirror neurons" - the brain cells that underpin empathy and understanding of others - Jaime Pineda at the University of California, San Diego, wondered if controlling it through neurofeedback could exercise faulty mirror neurons and improve their function.

He attached sensors to the necks and heads of eight children with autism and had them watch a video game of a racing car going round a track. For all of the children, sitting still and concentrating kept the car travelling around the track, but five of them were also able to harness their mu waves and use them to adjust the car's speed.

After 30 sessions over 10 weeks, Pineda found that the five children's mu brainwaves had changed and they performed better on tasks involving imitation, typically difficult for people with autism.

An android for enhancing social skills and emotion recognition in people with autism.

IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2005 Dec;13(4):507-15

Authors: Pioggia G, Igliozzi R, Ferro M, Ahluwalia A, Muratori F, De Rossi D

It is well documented that the processing of social and emotional information is impaired in people with autism. Recent studies have shown that individuals, particularly those with high functioning autism, can learn to cope with common social situations if they are made to enact possible scenarios they may encounter in real life during therapy. The main aim of this work is to describe an interactive life-like facial display (FACE) and a supporting therapeutic protocol that will enable us to verify if the system can help children with autism to learn, identify, interpret, and use emotional information and extend these skills in a socially appropriate, flexible, and adaptive context. The therapeutic setup consists of a specially equipped room in which the subject, under the supervision of a therapist, can interact with FACE. The android display and associated control system has automatic facial tracking, expression recognition, and eye tracking. The treatment scheme is based on a series of therapist-guided sessions in which a patient communicates with FACE through an interactive console. Preliminary data regarding the exposure to FACE of two children are reported.

Via the IPRIZE website 

 

Eye tracking is a viable next-generation human computer interface. For individuals with significant motor disabilities, eye-tracking interfaces represent one of the few or only ways to communicate effectively. Unfortunately, current eye-tracking systems are expensive (over $10,000), invasive, inflexible, cumbersome and frustrating to use.

 

Moreover, improvements in eye tracking technology over the last 30 years have been purely incremental.

 

A revolution in eye tracking will be required in order to make eye tracking the next ubiquitous human computer interface. Simultaneous factors of 10 improvements are needed in the price, intrusiveness, robustness, speed, and accuracy of eye-tracking systems.

The IPRIZE is a $1,000,000 Grand Challenge designed to spark advances in eye-tracking technology through competition. Repeatedly throughout history, such Grand Challenges have lead to radical innovations that overcome significant technical and economic barriers. The IPRIZE competition will focus the efforts of scientific, engineering and entreprenuerial communities on this significant problem.

 

Learn more about eye-tracking technology and related applications (source: COGAIN project)

 

Portals and Links Collections

• EyeTracking.net, Internet resource dedicated to eye movement related research and applications (Systems, Labs & people, Apps & projects, Papers & courses, Events & jobs)
• Eyetracking Papers, John Dylan McCarthy's list of eyetracking research papers on web
• Gaze-Based HCI Bibliography, tutorial bibliography with links to on-line papers
• Eye Tracking Links by the Gaze-Based Interaction Group, University of Tampere

Eye Tracking Conferences and Meetings

• ECEM, European Conference on Eye Movements [ECEM13 2005] [ECEM12 2003] [ECEM11 2001] [ECEM10 1999]
• ETRA, Eye Tracking Research & Applications Symposium [ETRA 2006] [ETRA 2004] [ETRA 2002] [ETRA 2000]
• VIV, Vision in Vehicles [VIV11 2005] [VIV10 2003] [VIV9 2001]
• BIP 2005, International Workshop on Bioinspired Information Processing: Cognitive modeling and gaze-based communication
• The First Irish Workshop on Eye-Tracking
• Second Finnish Symposium for Eye-movement Research
• Eyes-Tea meetings

 

 

 

 

The Franklin Institute is soliciting nominations for the 2007 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science, which will be on the theme of Human-Centered Computing

From the website:

The Franklin Institute invites you to nominate candidates for the Benjamin Franklin Medals, the 2007 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science and the 2007 Bower Award for Business Leadership.

The Benjamin Franklin Medals are awarded annually in seven disciplines of science: chemistry, computer and cognitive science, earth and environmental science, electrical engineering, life science, mechanical engineering, and physics.

The Bower Awards are presented in a predetermined field of interest chosen each year. The theme of the 2007 Bower Award for Achievement in Science is Human-Centered Computing. The theme of the 2007 Bower Award for Business Leadership is Computer and Cognitive Science.

Please feel free to share this Call for Nominations with others who might wish to submit a nomination. Questions about the appropriateness of a particular nomination are welcome and should be directed to Dr. Philip W. Hammer, Vice President, The Franklin Institute, at the number and/or address listed in the nomination sections. 2007 nominations must be received in the Awards office by May 31, 2006.

Via Usability News

Deadline: 8 May 2006

Advances in interactive computing technology have blurred the line between art, social studies and science. The age of digital reproduction is making radical changes in how art is created, distributed and perceived. Recent work from the humanities and arts has constructively critiqued traditional Interaction Design theory and practice. Studies of experience with technology can provide new insights into the potential of interactivity in contemporary arts and performance, as well as new tools for creativity.

This special issue will provide a forum for radically interdisciplinary analysis of digital technology. It will focus on the role of technology in enhancing culture and creativity. It will seek critical and reflective approaches to the design and analysis of interactive technology. Contributions will be welcomed from the Arts and Humanities as well as the Sciences. Contributions can take the form of academic papers but also less traditional creative presentation formats such as multimedia, digital artwork and sound.

From Clinical Psychiatry News

In the study, veternas used a head-mounted display and experienced a virtual Vietnam War clip (J. Clin. Psychiatry, in press). To more closely simulate actual combat, each of the veterans stood or sat on a platform above a vibrating speaker during the therapy session. According to Dr. Rothbaum, patients showed consistent improvements.

Read the full report on Clinical Psychiatry News

The EU-funded five-year project COGAIN (Communication by Gaze Interaction) will attempt to make eye-tracking technologies more affordable for people with disabilities and extend the potential use of the devices to enable users to live more independently.

From the project website:

COGAIN is a network of excellence on Communication by Gaze Interaction, supported by the European Commission's IST 6th framework program. COGAIN integrates cutting-edge expertise on interface technologies for the benefit of users with disabilities. The network aims to gather Europe's leading expertise in eye tracking integration with computers in a research project on assistive technologies for citizens with motor impairments. Through the integration of research activities, the network will develop new technologies and systems, improve existing gaze-based interaction techniques, and facilitate the implementation of systems for everyday communication.

Read the full report

Via VRoot

Polhemus, the industry leader in 6 Degree of Freedom (6DOF) motion capture, tracking and digitizing technologies is proud to announce MINUTEMAN™, the new low cost (under $1,500) 3-Degree-of-Freedom (3DOF) tracking product. MINUTEMAN represents a quantum leap in new technology and state of the art Digital Signal Processor (DSP) electronics which results in a major price reduction for tracking technology. MINUTEMAN is drift free, has the speed of 75 Hz per sensor and offers ease of use via an intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI). The electronics unit (E-Pod), which is powered by the USB interface and contains the electromagnetic source, is only slightly larger than a pack of playing cards. Full InertiaCube2 emulation software is also provided for plug-and-play hardware replacement without having to worry about rewriting code. The combination of all these attributes clearly positions MINUTEMAN as a new class of electromagnetic tracking, offering significant improvements over competitive technologies.

Via Brain Waves

$25,000 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology is now accepting entries. Deadline: June 15, 2006.

From the website:

The Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology acknowledges the increasing importance of this research in advancing our understanding of how the brain and nervous system function – a quest that seems destined for dramatic expansion in the coming decades. This international prize, established in 2002, is intended to encourage and support the work of promising young neurobiologists who have received their PhD or MD within the past 10 years. The prize is awarded annually to one young scientist for the most outstanding neurobiological research conducted by him/her during the past three years, as described in a 1,000-word entrance essay.

Via Brain Waves 

According to the Neurotechnology Industry 2006 Report, neurotechnology revenues reach $110 Billion.

Produced by Neuroinsight, the report provides a unified market-based framework to help investors, companies and governments quantify opportunities, determine risks and understand the dynamics of this market.

I found this US technology patent, which claims a method for manipulating the nervous system of a subject via broadcast television signals, DVD, and computer terminal (if the link does not work, go to this page and type the number 6,506,148 in the "Query" bar):

Via We Make Money Not Art

Researchers from Sony Intelligence Dynamics Laboratories and a nursery school in San Diego are conducting an experiment that focuses on how children can develop emotions toward robots. Results of this research could be used to develop smarter and friendlier humanoid robots, with a huge commercial potential.

From Neuromarketing

Neuroscientists Gabriele Gratton and Monica Fabiani at the University of Illinois Beckman Institute’s Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory are using very intense near-infrared illumination to measure neuronal activity in the cortex:

According to these researchers, the EROS system can measure very short intervals of activity, down to the millisecond level. Its biggest shortcoming is the inability to detect activity more than a few centimeters deep, but it is a relative unexpensive technique (as compared to fMRI and PET) that is not invasive to the test subject.

More information about EROS can be found in this paper entitled: "Fast and Localized Event-Related Optical Signals (EROS) in the Human Occipital Cortex: Comparisons with the Visual Evoked Potential and fMRI" (Neuroimage 6, 168–180 (1997)

Via Emerging Technology Trends 

Researchers from Max Plank Institute (Germany) and Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) have developed a new virtual reality prototype, which gives users the illusion of movement while being seated. According to developers, this approach could lead to commercial low-cost VR simulators in the near future.

The simulator "exploits a vection illusion of the brain, which makes us believe we are moving when actually we are stationary. The same can be experienced, for instance, when you are stopped at a traffic light in your car and the car next to you edges forward. Your brain interprets this peripheral visual information as though you are moving backwards".

More information about the scientific background of this approach can be found in the paper entitled "Influence of Auditory Cues on the Visually Induced Self-Motion Illusion (Circular Vection) in Virtual Reality" (PDF format, 9 pages, 1.22 MB).

The VR system is the main outcome of the EU-funded project POEMS "Perceptually Oriented Ego — Motion Simulation".

Foundation and Practice of Neurofeedback for the Treatment of Epilepsy.

Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2006 Apr 14;

Authors: Sterman MB, Egner T

This review provides an updated overview of the neurophysiological rationale, basic and clinical research literature, and current methods of practice pertaining to clinical neurofeedback. It is based on documented findings, rational theory, and the research and clinical experience of the authors. While considering general issues of physiology, learning principles, and methodology, it focuses on the treatment of epilepsy with sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) training, arguably the best established clinical application of EEG operant conditioning. The basic research literature provides ample data to support a very detailed model of the neural generation of SMR, as well as the most likely candidate mechanism underlying its efficacy in clinical treatment. Further, while more controlled clinical trials would be desirable, a respectable literature supports the clinical utility of this alternative treatment for epilepsy. However, the skilled practice of clinical neurofeedback requires a solid understanding of the neurophysiology underlying EEG oscillation, operant learning principles and mechanisms, as well as an in-depth appreciation of the ins and outs of the various hardware/software equipment options open to the practitioner. It is suggested that the best clinical practice includes the systematic mapping of quantitative multi-electrode EEG measures against a normative database before and after treatment to guide the choice of treatment strategy and document progress towards EEG normalization. We conclude that the research literature reviewed in this article justifies the assertion that neurofeedback treatment of epilepsy/seizure disorders constitutes a well-founded and viable alternative to anticonvulsant pharmacotherapy.

Via the Observer

30-year-old artist Christian Nold has created a "emotion mapping" device that allows people to compare their moods with their surroundings. It measures not just major reactions that tend to stick in the memory, but also the degrees of stimulation caused by speaking to a stranger, crossing the road or listening to birdsong. Emotion mapping is the result of the combination of two existing technologies: skin galvanic response sensor, which records the changing sweat levels on the skin as a measure of mental arousal and Global Positioning System. By calling up data from the finger cuffs, emotion mapping displays the user's fluctuating level of arousal, expressed as peaks and troughs along the route. So a walk down a country lane might produce only a mild curve. But dashing across a busy road or being confronted by a mugger might show up as a sudden spike.

And here is the tool and what Christian did with it. Its actually worth seeing - especially the "Google Earth" version of the emotionmap: