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We introduce ChillsDB, the first validated database of audiovisual stimuli eliciting aesthetic chills (goosebumps, psychogenic shivers) in a US population. To discover chills stimuli “in the wild”, we devised a bottom-up, ecologically-valid method consisting in searching for mentions of the emotion's somatic markers in user comments throughout social media platforms (YouTube and Reddit). We successfully captured 204 chills-eliciting videos of three categories: music, film, and speech. We then tested the top 50 videos in the database on 600+ participants and validated a gold standard of 10 stimuli with a .9 probability of generating chills. All ChillsDB tools and data are fully available on GitHub and PhysioNet for researchers to be able to contribute and perform further analysis.

The perception of body signals play a crucial role in cognition and emotion, which may lead to catastrophic outcomes when it becomes dysfunctional. To characterize these mechanisms and intervene on interoception for either diagnostic or treatment purposes, a mounting body of research is concerned with interventions on interoceptive channels such as respiration, cardioception, or thermoception. However, we are still lacking a mechanistic understanding of the underlying psychophysiology. For example, interoceptive signals are often both the cause and consequences of some distress in various mental disorders, and it is still unclear how interoceptive signals bind with exteroceptive cues. In this article, we present existing technologies for manipulating interoception and review their clinical potential in light of the predictive processing framework describing interoception as a process of minimization of prediction errors. We distinguish between three kinds of stimuli: artificial sensations that concern the direct manipulation of interoceptive signals, interoceptive illusions that manipulate contextual cues to induce a predictable drift in body perception, and emotional augmentation technologies that blend artificial sensations with contextual cues of personal significance to generate specific moods or emotions. We discuss how each technology can assess and intervene on the precision-weighting of prediction errors along the cognitive and emotional processing hierarchy and conclude by discussing the clinical relevance of interoceptive technologies in terms of diagnostic stress tests for evaluating interoceptive abilities across clinical conditions and as intervention protocols for conditions such as generalized anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, and autism spectrum disorders.

Recent research in psychology distinguishes levels of consciousness into a tripartite model-conscious, unconscious and metaconscious. HCI technologies largely focus on the conscious pathway for computer-to-human interaction, requiring explicit user attention and action. In contrast, the other two pathways provide opportunities to create new interfaces that can alter emotion, cognition and behavior without demands on attentional resources. These direct interfaces connect to cognitive processes that are in our perception but outside our conscious control. In this work, we feature two sub-categories, namely preconscious and metasomatic within the tripartite model of consciousness. Our goal is to provide a finer categorization of cognitive processes that can better help classify HCI research related to activating non-conscious cognitive pathways. We present the design of two wearable devices, MoveU and Frisson. From lessons learned during the iterative design process and the user studies, we present four design considerations that can be used to aid HCI researchers of future devices that influence the mind. With this work we aim to highlight that awareness of consciousness levels can be a valuable design element that can help to expand the range of computer-to-human interface devices we build. CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Interaction design theory, concepts and paradigms; HCI theory, concepts and models.

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Chills are a peak emotional experience induced by stimuli such as music, films, and speeches. The emotional consequences of chills in terms of valence and arousal are still debated and the existing empirical data is conflicting. In this study, we tested the effects of ChillsDB, an open-source repository of chills-inducing stimuli, on the emotional ratings of 600+ participants. We found that chills have a positive effect on valence and arousal as participants experiencing chills reported a significantly greater valence and arousal after the experience than before, as compared to participants who did not experience chills. Furthermore, we found an interesting pattern in the valence ratings of participants, which tended to harmonize towards a similar mean after the experiment, though initially disparately distributed.

We introduce ChillsDB the first validated database of audiovisual stimuli eliciting aesthetic chills (goosebumps, psychogenic shivers) in a US population. To discover chills stimuli “in the wild”, we devised a bottom-up, ecologically-valid method consisting in searching for mentions of the emotion’ somatic markers in user comments throughout social media platforms (YouTube and Reddit). We successfully captured 204 chills-eliciting videos of three categories: music, film, and speech. We then tested the top 50 videos in the database on 600+ participants and validated a gold standard of 10 stimuli with a 0.9 probability of generating chills. All ChillsDB tools and data are fully available on GitHub for researchers to be able to contribute and perform further analysis.