QoE of cross-modally mapped Mulsemedia: an assessment using eye gaze and heart rate

A great deal of research effort has been put in exploring crossmodal correspondences in the field of cognitive science which refer to the systematic associations frequently made between different sensory modalities (e.g. high pitch is matched with angular shapes). However, the possibilities cross-modality opens in the digital world have been relatively unexplored. Therefore, we consider that studying the plasticity and the effects of crossmodal correspondences in a mulsemedia setup can bring novel insights about improving the human-computer dialogue and experience. Mulsemedia refers to the combination of three or more senses to create immersive experiences. In our experiments, users were shown six video clips associated with certain visual features based on color, brightness, and shape. We examined if the pairing with crossmodal matching sound and the corresponding auto-generated haptic effect, and smell would lead to an enhanced user QoE. For this, we used an eye-tracking device as well as a heart rate monitor wristband to capture users’ eye gaze and heart rate whilst they were experiencing mulsemedia. After each video clip, we asked the users to complete an on-screen questionnaire with a set of questions related to smell, sound and haptic effects targeting their enjoyment and perception of the experiment. Accordingly, the eye gaze and heart rate results showed significant influence of the cross-modally mapped multisensorial effects on the users’ QoE. Our results highlight that when the olfactory content is crossmodally congruent with the visual content, the visual attention of the users seems shifted towards the correspondent visual feature. Crosmodally matched media is also shown to result in an enhanced QoE compared to a video only condition

How Do We Experience Crossmodal Correspondent Mulsemedia Content?

Sensory studies emerged as a significant influence upon Human Computer Interaction and traditional multimedia. Mulsemedia is an area that extends multimedia addressing issues of multisensorial response through the combination of at least three media, typically a non-traditional media with traditional audio-visual content. In this paper, we explore the concepts of Quality of Experience and crossmodal correspondences through a case study of different types of mulsemedia setups. The content is designed following principles of crossmodal correspondence between different sensory dimensions and delivered through olfactory, auditory and vibrotactile displays. The Quality of Experience is evaluated through both subjective (questionnaire) and objective means (eye gaze and heart rate). Results show that the auditory experience has an influence on the olfactory sensorial responses and lessens the perception of lingering odor. Heat maps of the eye gazes suggest that the crossmodality between olfactory and visual content leads to an increased visual attention on the factors of the employed crossmodal correspondence (e.g., color, brightness, shape)

LeviSense: a platform for the multisensory integration in levitating food and insights into its effect on flavour perception

Eating is one of the most multisensory experiences in everyday life. All of our five senses (i.e. taste, smell, vision, hearing and touch) are involved, even if we are not aware of it. However, while multisensory integration has been well studied in psychology, there is not a single platform for testing systematically the effects of different stimuli. This lack of platform results in unresolved design challenges for the design of taste-based immersive experiences. Here, we present LeviSense: the first system designed for multisensory integration in gustatory experiences based on levitated food. Our system enables the systematic exploration of different sensory effects on eating experiences. It also opens up new opportunities for other professionals (e.g., molecular gastronomy chefs) looking for innovative taste-delivery platforms. We describe the design process behind LeviSense and conduct two experiments to test a subset of the crossmodal combinations (i.e., taste and vision, taste and smell). Our results show how different lighting and smell conditions affect the perceived taste intensity, pleasantness, and satisfaction. We discuss how LeviSense creates a new technical, creative, and expressive possibilities in a series of emerging design spaces within Human-Food Interaction

Earth as Interface: Exploring chemical senses with Multisensory HCI Design for Environmental Health Communication

As environmental problems intensify, the chemical senses -that is smell and taste, are the most relevantsenses to evidence them.As such, environmental exposure vectors that can reach human beings comprise air,food, soil and water[1].Within this context, understanding the link between environmental exposures andhealth[2]is crucial to make informed choices, protect the environment and adapt to new environmentalconditions[3].Smell and taste lead therefore to multi-sensorial experiences which convey multi-layered information aboutlocal and global events[4]. However, these senses are usually absent when those problems are represented indigital systems. The multisensory HCIdesign framework investigateschemical sense inclusion withdigital systems[5]. Ongoing efforts tackledigitalization of smell and taste for digital delivery, transmission or substitution [6]. Despite experimentsproved technological feasibility, its dissemination depends on relevant applicationdevelopment[7].This thesis aims to fillthose gaps by demonstratinghow chemical senses provide the means to link environment and health based on scientific andgeolocation narratives [8], [9],[10]. We present a Multisensory HCI design process which accomplished symbolicdisplaying smell and taste and led us to a new multi-sensorial interaction system presented herein. We describe the conceptualization, design and evaluation of Earthsensum, an exploratory case study project.Earthsensumoffered to 16 participants in the study, environmental smell and taste experiences about real geolocations to participants of the study. These experiences were represented digitally using mobilevirtual reality (MVR) and mobile augmented reality (MAR). Its technologies bridge the real and digital Worlds through digital representations where we can reproduce the multi-sensorial experiences. Our study findings showed that the purposed interaction system is intuitive and can lead not only to a betterunderstanding of smell and taste perception as also of environmental problems. Participants comprehensionabout the link between environmental exposures and health was successful and they would recommend thissystem as education tools. Our conceptual design approach was validated and further developments wereencouraged.In this thesis,we demonstratehow to applyMultisensory HCI methodology to design with chemical senses. Weconclude that the presented symbolic representation model of smell and taste allows communicatingtheseexperiences on digital platforms. Due to its context-dependency, MVR and MAR platforms are adequatetechnologies to be applied for this purpose.Future developments intend to explore further the conceptual approach. These developments are centredon the use of the system to induce hopefully behaviourchange. Thisthesisopens up new application possibilities of digital chemical sense communication,Multisensory HCI Design and environmental health communication.À medida que os problemas ambientais se intensificam, os sentidos químicos -isto é, o cheiroe sabor, são os sentidos mais relevantes para evidenciá-los. Como tais, os vetores de exposição ambiental que podem atingir os seres humanos compreendem o ar, alimentos, solo e água [1]. Neste contexto, compreender a ligação entre as exposições ambientais e a saúde [2] é crucial para exercerescolhas informadas, proteger o meio ambiente e adaptar a novas condições ambientais [3]. O cheiroe o saborconduzemassima experiências multissensoriais que transmitem informações de múltiplas camadas sobre eventos locais e globais [4]. No entanto, esses sentidos geralmente estão ausentes quando esses problemas são representados em sistemas digitais. A disciplina do design de Interação Humano-Computador(HCI)multissensorial investiga a inclusão dossentidos químicos em sistemas digitais [9]. O seu foco atual residena digitalização de cheirose sabores para o envio, transmissão ou substituiçãode sentidos[10]. Apesar dasexperimentaçõescomprovarem a viabilidade tecnológica, a sua disseminação está dependentedo desenvolvimento de aplicações relevantes [11]. Estatese pretendepreencher estas lacunas ao demonstrar como os sentidos químicos explicitama interconexãoentre o meio ambiente e a saúde, recorrendo a narrativas científicas econtextualizadasgeograficamente[12], [13], [14]. Apresentamos uma metodologiade design HCImultissensorial que concretizouum sistema de representação simbólica de cheiro e sabor e nos conduziu a um novo sistema de interação multissensorial, que aqui apresentamos. Descrevemos o nosso estudo exploratório Earthsensum, que integra aconceptualização, design e avaliação. Earthsensumofereceu a 16participantes do estudo experiências ambientais de cheiro e sabor relacionadas com localizações geográficasreais. Essas experiências foram representadas digitalmente através derealidade virtual(VR)e realidade aumentada(AR).Estas tecnologias conectamo mundo real e digital através de representações digitais onde podemos reproduzir as experiências multissensoriais. Os resultados do nosso estudo provaramque o sistema interativo proposto é intuitivo e pode levar não apenas a uma melhor compreensão da perceção do cheiroe sabor, como também dos problemas ambientais. O entendimentosobre a interdependência entre exposições ambientais e saúde teve êxitoe os participantes recomendariam este sistema como ferramenta para aeducação. A nossa abordagem conceptual foi positivamentevalidadae novos desenvolvimentos foram incentivados. Nesta tese, demonstramos como aplicar metodologiasde design HCImultissensorialpara projetar com ossentidos químicos. Comprovamosque o modelo apresentado de representação simbólica do cheiroe do saborpermite comunicar essas experiênciasem plataformas digitais. Por serem dependentesdocontexto, as plataformas de aplicações emVR e AR são tecnologias adequadaspara este fim.Desenvolvimentos futuros pretendem aprofundar a nossa abordagemconceptual. Em particular, aspiramos desenvolvera aplicaçãodo sistema para promover mudanças de comportamento. Esta tese propõenovas possibilidades de aplicação da comunicação dos sentidos químicos em plataformas digitais, dedesign multissensorial HCI e de comunicação de saúde ambiental

Multisensory games-based learning - lessons learnt from olfactory enhancement of a digital board game

Serious games are becoming an alternative educational method in a variety of fields because of their potential to improve the quality of learning experiences and to facilitate knowledge acquisition and content understanding. Moreover, entertainment-driven learners are more easily motivated to benefit from the learning process through meaningful activities defined in a game context. Interfacing educational computer games with multisensorial interfaces allows for a seamless integration between virtual and physical environments. Multisensorial cues can improve memory and attention and increase the cognitive and sensory-motor performance. Despite of the increasing knowledge in sensory processes, multisensory experiences and interactions in computer based instruction remain insufficiently explored and understood. In this paper, we present a multisensory educational game - Fragrance Channel - and we investigate how enabling olfaction can contribute to users' learning performance, engagement and quality of experience. We compare results obtained after experiencing Fragrance Channel in the presence and absence of olfactory feedback on both a mobile and a PC. A knowledge test administered before and immediately after showed that our proposed educational game led to an improvement of performance in all the explored conditions. Subjective measurements carried out after the olfactory experience showed that students enjoyed the scenario and appreciated it as being relevant.European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programm

Using olfactory media cues in e-learning – perspectives from an empirical investigation

People interact with computers using their senses. Currently, in a digital context, traditional digital media like videos and images used to convey information to users, and these media can be used as a source of information. However, relatively few studies have been conducted on olfactory media as a source of information in a digital context. In this paper, we report on a study that examined the possibility of using olfactory media as a source of information and whether its usage as informational cues enhances learning performance and user Quality of Experience (QoE). To this end, an olfactory-enhanced quiz (web-based) was developed about four countries. The quiz contained different types of questions employing four types of digital media in their contents: text, image, audio and olfactory media. Four scents were used that were considered to be related to the respective countries. Sixty-four participants were invited to our experiment to evaluate this application. Our results revealed that usage of olfactory media synchronised with traditional digital media had a significant impact on learner performance compared to the case when no olfactory media was employed. In respect of user QoE, it was found that olfactory media influenced users positively; moreover, they were passionate about engaging with enhanced olfactory applications in the future

Using eye tracking and heart-rate activity to examine crossmodal correspondences QoE in Mulsemedia

Different senses provide us with information of various levels of precision and enable us to construct a more precise representation of the world. Rich multisensory simulations are thus beneficial for comprehension, memory reinforcement, or retention of information. Crossmodal mappings refer to the systematic associations often made between different sensory modalities (e.g., high pitch is matched with angular shapes) and govern multisensory processing. A great deal of research effort has been put into exploring cross-modal correspondences in the field of cognitive science. However, the possibilities they open in the digital world have been relatively unexplored. Multiple sensorial media (mulsemedia) provides a highly immersive experience to the users and enhances their Quality of Experience (QoE) in the digital world. Thus, we consider that studying the plasticity and the effects of cross-modal correspondences in a mulsemedia setup can bring interesting insights about improving the human computer dialogue and experience. In our experiments, we exposed users to videos with certain visual dimensions (brightness, color, and shape), and we investigated whether the pairing with a cross-modal matching sound (high and low pitch) and the corresponding auto-generated vibrotactile effects (produced by a haptic vest) lead to an enhanced QoE. For this, we captured the eye gaze and the heart rate of users while experiencing mulsemedia, and we asked them to fill in a set of questions targeting their enjoyment and perception at the end of the experiment. Results showed differences in eye-gaze patterns and heart rate between the experimental and the control group, indicating changes in participants’ engagement when videos were accompanied by matching cross-modal sounds (this effect was the strongest for the video displaying angular shapes and high-pitch audio) and transitively generated cross-modal vibrotactile effects.<?vsp -1pt?