#Scanners

Abstract

This paper explores the design space of bio-responsive entertainment, in this case using a film that responds to the brain and blink data of users. A film was created with four parallel channels of footage, where blinking and levels of attention and meditation, as recorded by a commercially available EEG device, affected which footage participants saw. As a performance-led piece of research in the wild, this experience, named #Scanners, was presented at a week long national exhibition in the UK. We examined the experiences of 35 viewers, and found that these forms of partially-involuntary control created engaging and enjoyable, but sometimes distracting, experiences. We translate our findings into a two-dimensional design space between the extent of voluntary control that a physiological measure can provide against the level of conscious awareness that the user has of that control. This highlights that novel design opportunities exist when deviating from these two-dimensions -when giving up conscious control and when abstracting the affect of control. Reflection on of how viewers negotiated this space during an experience reveals novel design tactics.

Human enhancement through the lens of experimental and speculative neurotechnologies

“…While companies such as the streaming service Netflix () and some music video clips (Coldplay, ) are experimenting with user‐defined narratives—meaning that the user influences the way the story develops—, neurotechnology is doing the same, however, working with the unconscious. Rachel and Richard Ramchurn's “The MOMENT” project is a brain‐controlled film: Based on brain activity and blinking measured by EEG headsets, the film can be unconsciously influenced by some audience members (Pike, Ramchurn, Benford, & Wilson, ).…”

Designing Musical Soundtracks for Brain Controlled Interface (BCI) Systems

“…Our systems used the afore-mentioned passive control mechanism, as opposed to what is known as a direct, or selective method [23]. There were two key reasons for this; firstly, training is essential if one is to use a BCI direct control mechanism and it is not practical for the interactors (users) to go through a lengthy training period in a public installation setting and secondly, and importantly for this this type of experience, there is evidence that a conscious control can break narrative tension [18]. This would prove ineffectual for anyone trying to develop an 'interesting' narrative, either using visuals or audio.…”

“…Again, we used the Neurosky Mindset headset in this piece, but for this experience we shifted from mapping data directedly to an audio or visual attribute and designed a new interactive approach Following the Performance Led Research in the Wild [2] approach this design was iteratively refined by previous studies [18] to use the feedback attribute of the filmic cut and visual sensitive Attention data from the Neurosky headset [14]. It was also guided by the theory of event segmentation [26].…”

Virtual Transcendence Experiences

“…User interface has acquired three levels of interaction: graphical user interface (GUI), tangible user interface (TUI) and radical atoms [23], [24]. Another level is through Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) [25], which can be translated into three categories related to control: active, reactive and passive [26]. Challenges with adaptive interactive experiences in BCI are the sense of control, which can affect their immersion [25].…”

“…Another level is through Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) [25], which can be translated into three categories related to control: active, reactive and passive [26]. Challenges with adaptive interactive experiences in BCI are the sense of control, which can affect their immersion [25]. Other aspect to consider is the use of multi-sensory technology from different sources.…”