Multimodal Affect and Aesthetic Experience

The term “aesthetic experience” corresponds to the inner state of a person exposed to form and content of artistic objects. Exploring certain aesthetic values of artistic objects, as well as interpreting the aesthetic experience of people when exposed to art can contribute towards understanding (a) art and (b) people’s affective reactions to artwork. Focusing on different types of artistic content, such as movies, music, urban art and other artwork, the goal of this workshop is to enhance the interdisciplinary collaboration between affective computing and aesthetics researchers

4th International Workshop on Multimodal Affect and Aesthetic Experience

"Aesthetic experience"corresponds to the inner state of a person exposed to the form and content of artistic objects. Quantifying and interpreting the aesthetic experience of people in various contexts contribute towards a) creating context, and b) better understanding people's affective reactions to aesthetic stimuli. Focusing on different types of artistic content, such as movie, music, literature, urban art, ancient artwork, and modern interactive technology, the 4th international workshop on Multimodal Affect and Aesthetic Experience (MAAE) aims to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers from affective computing, aesthetics, human-robot/computer interaction, digital archaeology and art, culture, ethics, and addictive games

A Digital Twin City Model for Age-Friendly Communities: Capturing Environmental Distress from Multimodal Sensory Data

As the worldwide population is aging, the demands of aging-in-place are also increasing and require smarter and more connected cities to keep mobility independence of older adults. However, today’s aging built environment often poses great environmental demands to older adults’ mobility and causes their distresses. To better understand and help mitigating older adults’ distress in their daily trips, this paper proposes constructing the digital twin city (DTC) model that integrates multimodal data (i.e., physiological sensing, visual sensing) on environmental demands in urban communities, so that such environmental demands can be considered in mobility planning of older adults. Specifically, this paper examines how data acquired from various modalities (i.e., electrodermal activity, gait patterns, visual sensing) can portray environmental demands associated with older adults’ mobility. In addition, it discusses the challenges and opportunities of multimodal data fusion in capturing environmental distresses in urban communities

Affective state recognition in Virtual Reality from electromyography and photoplethysmography using head-mounted wearable sensors.

The three core components of Affective Computing (AC) are emotion expression recognition, emotion processing, and emotional feedback. Affective states are typically characterized in a two-dimensional space consisting of arousal, i.e., the intensity of the emotion felt; and valence, i.e., the degree to which the current emotion is pleasant or unpleasant. These fundamental properties of emotion can not only be measured using subjective ratings from users, but also with the help of physiological and behavioural measures, which potentially provide an objective evaluation across users. Multiple combinations of measures are utilised in AC for a range of applications, including education, healthcare, marketing, and entertainment. As the uses of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are growing, there is a rapidly increasing need for robust affect recognition in VR settings. However, the integration of affect detection methodologies with VR remains an unmet challenge due to constraints posed by the current VR technologies, such as Head Mounted Displays. This EngD project is designed to overcome some of the challenges by effectively integrating valence and arousal recognition methods in VR technologies and by testing their reliability in seated and room-scale full immersive VR conditions. The aim of this EngD research project is to identify how affective states are elicited in VR and how they can be efficiently measured, without constraining the movement and decreasing the sense of presence in the virtual world. Through a three-years long collaboration with Emteq labs Ltd, a wearable technology company, we assisted in the development of a novel multimodal affect detection system, specifically tailored towards the requirements of VR. This thesis will describe the architecture of the system, the research studies that enabled this development, and the future challenges. The studies conducted, validated the reliability of our proposed system, including the VR stimuli design, data measures and processing pipeline. This work could inform future studies in the field of AC in VR and assist in the development of novel applications and healthcare interventions

A Multi-Stakeholder Information Model to Drive Process Connectivity In Smart Buildings

Smart buildings utilise IoT technology to provide stakeholders with efficient, comfortable, and secure experiences. However, previous studies have primarily focused on the technical aspects of it and how it can address specific stakeholder requirements. This study adopts socio-technical theory principles to propose a model that addresses stakeholders' needs by considering the interrelationship between social and technical subsystems. A systematic literature review and thematic analysis of 43 IoT conceptual frameworks for smart building studies informed the design of a comprehensive conceptual model and IoT framework for smart buildings. The study's findings suggest that addressing stakeholder requirements is essential for developing an information model in smart buildings. A multi-stakeholder information model integrating multiple stakeholders' perspectives enhances information sharing and improves process connectivity between various systems and subsystems. The socio-technical systems framework emphasises the importance of considering technical and social aspects while integrating smart building systems for seamless operation and effectiveness. The study's findings have significant implications for enhancing stakeholders' experience and improving operational efficiency in commercial buildings. The insights from the study can inform smart building systems design to consider all stakeholder requirements holistically, promoting process connectivity in smart buildings. The literature analysis contributed to developing a comprehensive IoT framework, addressing the need for holistic thinking when proposing IoT frameworks for smart buildings by considering different stakeholders in the building

HUMAN-CENTRED THERAPEUTIC ENVIRONMENTS: A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BIOPHILIC DESIGN

The emergence of biophilic design as a discipline refers to the innate human connection to nature and natural processes to promote health and well-being in the spaces we inhabit. The principles that define biophilic design can be examined from three different perspectives: as established in building regulations and standards, as used in design practice and as investigated in research practice. When examining each of these areas, we can find several issues and disconnections. In practice and regulatory frameworks, we can observe the use of an unbounded design framework that is not underpinned by scientific facts, do not prioritise principles or parameters, and even considers as a design intervention the use of disparate evocations of nature that do not hold a meaningful sustained connection. In scientific academic environments, there is abundant research on many of the different aspects of biophilic design, but all of this in-depth research providing scientific facts about the importance of nature on humans has happened separately or for a specific design parameter, and not in a holistic way. Current biophilic design frameworks fail to provide efficient guidance, as their design recommendations do not differentiate the level of value of each design parameter for each building programme and context. My position is that a biophilic design framework can only be efficient if it is adapted to specific building functions and is geographically and culturally contextualised. Likewise, the evolution of therapeutic architecture has mostly focused on managerial priorities (mass health working like a machine) and neglected the users' concerns. There is increasing research corroborating that the qualities of the setting in which a patient receives healthcare positively influence health outcomes. Therefore, it has become progressively important to review the concept of therapeutic environments, as places where users are supported in psychological, emotional and social terms. This quest for the optimal healing environment brings to the forefront the need to include other parameters in our design briefs, where the application of biophilic design proves to be paramount, as exposure to nature is associated with multiple health benefits. This study assessed the application of biophilic design in therapeutic environments in the UK and provided a revised conceptual framework that can more efficiently guide designers and policy in future interventions. This framework was informed by synthesised analyses from the user’s experiences, and the data obtained from semi-structured interviews with architects and managers, which was then benchmarked against scientific data about the impact of biophilic design on humans. This comprehensive approach helped to identify and rank those biophilic design parameters that appear the most critical for promoting and supporting health and wellbeing in healthcare settings and provided an up-to-date compilation of crucial design actions to enact the necessary change in future design practice