NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION WITH PHYSIOLOGICAL SENSORS. THE AESTHETIC DOMAIN OF WEARABLES AND NEURAL NETWORKS

Historically, communication implies the transfer of information between bodies, yet this phenomenon is constantly adapting to new technological and cultural standards. In a digital context, it’s commonplace to envision systems that revolve around verbal modalities. However, behavioural analysis grounded in psychology research calls attention to the emotional information disclosed by non-verbal social cues, in particular, actions that are involuntary. This notion has circulated heavily into various interdisciplinary computing research fields, from which multiple studies have arisen, correlating non-verbal activity to socio-affective inferences. These are often derived from some form of motion capture and other wearable sensors, measuring the ‘invisible’ bioelectrical changes that occur from inside the body. This thesis proposes a motivation and methodology for using physiological sensory data as an expressive resource for technology-mediated interactions. Initialised from a thorough discussion on state-of-the-art technologies and established design principles regarding this topic, then applied to a novel approach alongside a selection of practice works to compliment this. We advocate for aesthetic experience, experimenting with abstract representations. Atypically from prevailing Affective Computing systems, the intention is not to infer or classify emotion but rather to create new opportunities for rich gestural exchange, unconfined to the verbal domain. Given the preliminary proposition of non-representation, we justify a correspondence with modern Machine Learning and multimedia interaction strategies, applying an iterative, human-centred approach to improve personalisation without the compromising emotional potential of bodily gesture. Where related studies in the past have successfully provoked strong design concepts through innovative fabrications, these are typically limited to simple linear, one-to-one mappings and often neglect multi-user environments; we foresee a vast potential. In our use cases, we adopt neural network architectures to generate highly granular biofeedback from low-dimensional input data. We present the following proof-of-concepts: Breathing Correspondence, a wearable biofeedback system inspired by Somaesthetic design principles; Latent Steps, a real-time auto-encoder to represent bodily experiences from sensor data, designed for dance performance; and Anti-Social Distancing Ensemble, an installation for public space interventions, analysing physical distance to generate a collective soundscape. Key findings are extracted from the individual reports to formulate an extensive technical and theoretical framework around this topic. The projects first aim to embrace some alternative perspectives already established within Affective Computing research. From here, these concepts evolve deeper, bridging theories from contemporary creative and technical practices with the advancement of biomedical technologies.Historicamente, os processos de comunicação implicam a transferência de informação entre organismos, mas este fenómeno está constantemente a adaptar-se a novos padrões tecnológicos e culturais. Num contexto digital, é comum encontrar sistemas que giram em torno de modalidades verbais. Contudo, a análise comportamental fundamentada na investigação psicológica chama a atenção para a informação emocional revelada por sinais sociais não verbais, em particular, acções que são involuntárias. Esta noção circulou fortemente em vários campos interdisciplinares de investigação na área das ciências da computação, dos quais surgiram múltiplos estudos, correlacionando a actividade nãoverbal com inferências sócio-afectivas. Estes são frequentemente derivados de alguma forma de captura de movimento e sensores “wearable”, medindo as alterações bioeléctricas “invisíveis” que ocorrem no interior do corpo. Nesta tese, propomos uma motivação e metodologia para a utilização de dados sensoriais fisiológicos como um recurso expressivo para interacções mediadas pela tecnologia. Iniciada a partir de uma discussão aprofundada sobre tecnologias de ponta e princípios de concepção estabelecidos relativamente a este tópico, depois aplicada a uma nova abordagem, juntamente com uma selecção de trabalhos práticos, para complementar esta. Defendemos a experiência estética, experimentando com representações abstractas. Contrariamente aos sistemas de Computação Afectiva predominantes, a intenção não é inferir ou classificar a emoção, mas sim criar novas oportunidades para uma rica troca gestual, não confinada ao domínio verbal. Dada a proposta preliminar de não representação, justificamos uma correspondência com estratégias modernas de Machine Learning e interacção multimédia, aplicando uma abordagem iterativa e centrada no ser humano para melhorar a personalização sem o potencial emocional comprometedor do gesto corporal. Nos casos em que estudos anteriores demonstraram com sucesso conceitos de design fortes através de fabricações inovadoras, estes limitam-se tipicamente a simples mapeamentos lineares, um-para-um, e muitas vezes negligenciam ambientes multi-utilizadores; com este trabalho, prevemos um potencial alargado. Nos nossos casos de utilização, adoptamos arquitecturas de redes neurais para gerar biofeedback altamente granular a partir de dados de entrada de baixa dimensão. Apresentamos as seguintes provas de conceitos: Breathing Correspondence, um sistema de biofeedback wearable inspirado nos princípios de design somaestético; Latent Steps, um modelo autoencoder em tempo real para representar experiências corporais a partir de dados de sensores, concebido para desempenho de dança; e Anti-Social Distancing Ensemble, uma instalação para intervenções no espaço público, analisando a distância física para gerar uma paisagem sonora colectiva. Os principais resultados são extraídos dos relatórios individuais, para formular um quadro técnico e teórico alargado para expandir sobre este tópico. Os projectos têm como primeiro objectivo abraçar algumas perspectivas alternativas às que já estão estabelecidas no âmbito da investigação da Computação Afectiva. A partir daqui, estes conceitos evoluem mais profundamente, fazendo a ponte entre as teorias das práticas criativas e técnicas contemporâneas com o avanço das tecnologias biomédicas

Oral application of L-menthol in the heat: From pleasure to performance

When menthol is applied to the oral cavity it presents with a familiar refreshing sensation and cooling mint flavour. This may be deemed hedonic in some individuals, but may cause irritation in others. This variation in response is likely dependent upon trigeminal sensitivity toward cold stimuli, suggesting a need for a menthol solution that can be easily personalised. Menthol’s characteristics can also be enhanced by matching colour to qualitative outcomes; a factor which can easily be manipulated by practitioners working in athletic or occupational settings to potentially enhance intervention efficacy. This presentation will outline the efficacy of oral menthol application for improving time trial performance to date, either via swilling or via co-ingestion with other cooling strategies, with an emphasis upon how menthol can be applied in ecologically valid scenarios. Situations in which performance is not expected to be enhanced will also be discussed. An updated model by which menthol may prove hedonic, satiate thirst and affect ventilation will also be presented, with the potential performance implications of these findings discussed and modelled. Qualitative reflections from athletes that have implemented menthol mouth swilling in competition, training and maximal exercise will also be included

Applying and evaluating 3D bodyscanning technology and landmarking within the clothing product development process to improve garment fit for mature women aged 55+

Women aged 55+ are recognised to have non-standard body morphologies and may present with further functional considerations. Existing practice bases clothing development on younger bodies, exasperating misfit issues that exist already. This research therefore focuses on the assessment and provision of garment fit for mature women aged 55+. It applies and critically analyses the application of 3D bodyscanning technology and landmarking practice for the clothing product development process for mature women. Compared to traditional methods in anthropometric body measurement, 3D bodyscanning procedures have perceived benefits in speed, privacy and accuracy. It is therefore ideal in capturing the measurement of mature women aged 55+. However, bodyscanning may deal less well with non-standard bodies, which may complicate further pattern creation. Whilst bodyscanning has recognisable benefits (speed, convenience, consistency), the technology is not readily accessible to practitioners and necessitates its study and testing. A pragmatic, mixed method approach was developed to gather and analyse qualitative and quantitative data related to body scanning and pattern applications. A theoretical framework was established from the knowledge base informing six propositions, a null and alternative of hypothesis. This research applied a mixed methods approach, allowing the exploration of the technology, the application of the data in pattern practice and the testing of its success with a suitable 55+ population. The research developed novel approaches to understand the data and ensure its validity. Processes found that landmarking errors were not confined to 55+ demographic. Landmark errors concerning armscye, bust and crotch points were common; but the t-test revealed that older age was the variable most likely to impact on landmarking accuracy concerning bust and crotch points. Scan analysis added time to the scanning process which made the technology less time conserving as widely perceived. The study discovered that non-contact landmarking methods allowed errors that were not easily detectable without a reliable system in place; hence established a system for validation. Body measurements from the pattern guidance and body scan data measurements did not have comparable landmark definitions; therefore scanner landmark definitions needed to be modified for pattern construction, adding time to the process. Comparison of patterns constructed from unmodified and modified scan data revealed that landmark error had a substantial impact on key areas of pattern geometry. Changes in pattern shape translated into poor fit of the bodice, where armholes were either too tight/loose and the shoulder seam too short for the body. The bodice fit trials confirmed that participants favoured the fit of the bodice that had undergone landmark modification and had used their self-selected waist position. Methods are necessary to ensure scan data is suitable for the application of pattern construction, this study provides clear approaches that allow this

Semantics for virtual humans

Population of Virtual Worlds with Virtual Humans is increasing rapidly by people who want to create a virtual life parallel to the real one (i.e. Second Life). The evolution of technology is smoothly providing the necessary elements to increase realism within these virtual worlds by creating believable Virtual Humans. However, creating the amount of resources needed to succeed this believability is a difficult task, mainly because of the complexity of the creation process of Virtual Humans. Even though there are many existing available resources, their reusability is difficult because there is not enough information provided to evaluate if a model contains the desired characteristics to be reused. Additionally, the knowledge involved in the creation of Virtual Humans is not well known, nor well disseminated. There are several different creation techniques, different software components, and several processes to carry out before having a Virtual Human capable of populating a virtual environment. The creation of Virtual Humans involves: a geometrical representation with an internal control structure, the motion synthesis with different animation techniques, higher level controllers and descriptors to simulate human-like behavior such individuality, cognition, interaction capabilities, etc. All these processes require the expertise from different fields of knowledge such as mathematics, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, design, etc. Furthermore, there is neither common framework nor common understanding of how elements involved in the creation, development, and interaction of Virtual Humans features are done. Therefore, there is a need for describing (1) existing resources, (2) Virtual Human's composition and features, (3) a creation pipeline and (4) the different levels/fields of knowledge comprehended. This thesis presents an explicit representation of the Virtual Humans and their features to provide a conceptual framework that will interest to all people involved in the creation and development of these characters. This dissertation focuses in a semantic description of Virtual Humans. The creation of a semantic description involves gathering related knowledge, agreement among experts in the definition of concepts, validation of the ontology design, etc. In this dissertation all these procedures are presented, and an Ontology for Virtual Humans is described in detail together with the validations that conducted to the resulted ontology. The goal of creating such ontology is to promote reusability of existing resources; to create a shared knowledge of the creation and composition of Virtual Humans; and to support new research of the fields involved in the development of believable Virtual Humans and virtual environments. Finally, this thesis presents several developments that aim to demonstrate the ontology usability and reusability. These developments serve particularly to support the research on specialized knowledge of Virtual Humans, the population of virtual environments, and improve the believability of these characters

Exploring eudaimonia through fashion: can clothes be designed to carry an embodied narrative for wellbeing?

Clothing is enjoyable, communicative, powerful, available, affordable, addictive, and problematic in its overconsumption. The fashion system, driven by growth, is contributing to a rapidly deteriorating eco-system through the cumulative effects of exploitation and pollution. Material abundance negatively impacts holistic wellbeing; grounded in a reductionist viewpoint that we are somehow separate from, or above nature, created the conditions for the environmental disconnection that we experience today. What is needed to redress this imbalance and disconnection is an “alternative way of thinking of alternatives” (Santos, 2016, p. 20). This work aims through alternative thinking, and the power of clothing, to improve personal and planetary wellbeing, living in unity with nature. It proposes and explores an alternative paradigm for creating regenerative clothing through eight principles that form a design framework. The framework provides practical tools to embody clothing with a multi-layered interwoven narrative to elicit sensory somatic interaction with something greater than oneself. Theoretical and practical strategies to inform the framework are explored through relevant literature and presented as four interconnected bubbles of Biophilia, Natural Capital, Eudaimonia, and Somaesthetics. Thinking through making reifies the design framework in three phases of practice to produce five pieces of Alternative Regenerative Clothing (ARC). ARC evolves holistically through three-dimensional realisation and a process of reverse patterning whereby flat patterns of naturally occurring geometric forms are taken as a fixed point of origin. This approach informed by the design framework, challenges the block, the fundamental method of Western pattern cutting. The non-body contouring forms produced by this method enable sensory voids between the body and garment to be explored and experienced. ARC is outside fashion; it questions and transcends stereotypical perceptions of clothing’s form and purpose. A wearer interaction study explored the experiences of seven participants after somatic engagement with ARC. A methodological framework was designed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and a range of qualitative methods including photo-elicitation, wellness journaling, prompts, probes, and interviews to explore ARC’s impact on wearer wellbeing. A holistic viewpoint on wellbeing is explored, one that is grounded in deep meaning and respect integrating emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical dimensions. Analysis of the wearer’s interactive lived experience of ARC focused on unpicking transformative and wellbeing narratives to address the research question of: Can clothes be designed to carry an embodied narrative for wellbeing? The significance of the study is that it challenges the existing fashion system to propose a tangible and alternative approach to clothing design aimed to facilitate a change in our emotions, which in turn changes our critical thinking, that then has a positive impact on our view of societies way of being. When accessed this transformative perspective can create a landscape to connect the mind, body, and environment through the ARC - whose provenance embodies personal and planetary wellbeing

Tailoring Digital Touch: An ethnography of designers' touch practices during garment prototyping and the potential for their digitisation

At a time of rapid digital transition in garment design industries and education, this thesis ethnographically documents garment designers’ use of touch and its role in meaning-making and understanding during garment prototyping. A novel diffractive ethnographic attention is utilised to attune to differing aspects of touch and felt experience, revealing the significance of the felt, kinaesthetic awareness of the moving body to garment prototyping. Further demonstrating that designers relate felt histories of material entanglement with their moving bodies to their contemporary experience. Development of felt histories is thus identified as a key means of designers’ enskillment, alongside moments of overlooked and informal skills sharing. A socio-material perspective informed by New Materialism is adopted to foreground the critical role of designers’ entanglement with non-human things in structuring their felt experience and deriving meaning from it. Significantly, this thesis demonstrates that sensations are perceived beyond the conventionally defined body in and through entangled tools and materials and that sensations are socio-materially mutable and can be altered by peers directing designers to touch and feel in particular ways. This problematises current haptic technologies, which simulate touch at physical and virtual boundaries. The ethnographic data is supplemented by two workshop studies facilitating garment designers to engage with prototypical digital touch technologies, enabling speculation on future digital touch tools more relevant to garment prototyping. The thesis analytically discusses differing theoretical stances on non-human agency in design and making and their implications for digital touch tools. It concludes by proposing a theoretical Framework of Garment Designers’ Felt Enskillment and making recommendations for the design of digital touch interfaces for garment prototyping. The findings of the thesis contribute to the fields of HCI, design and education, deepening academic understandings of designers’ sensory experience and the impact of digital processes, potentially informing future technology development

Human metabolic allometry from basal to maximal ambulatory states, including load carriage and its distribution

Whole-body metabolic rate is strongly linked with body size, as it is primarily determined by both the number of cells within the body and their tissue-specific metabolic rates. For these reasons alone there will always be some inter-individual variations in metabolism, at any given metabolic intensity. While variations in body mass can explain the majority of these differences between individuals, it still remains difficult to remove the effect of body mass from metabolic data, as the relationship between both variables does not scale by a one-to-one ratio. Accordingly, the ubiquitous mass-normalisation approach is ineffective at this task (mL.kg-1.min-1). Therefore, an alternative scaling method was required so that metabolic rate can be both described and analysed with minimal error. In animals, basal metabolic rate scales by a non-linear, allometric regression against body body mass, and can be described using the body-mass exponent, mass 0.67. However, in humans, the nature1 of the scaling relationship remains unconfirmed, with both linear (first-order polynomial) and non-linear (allometric) scaling approaches used by researchers. An often overlooked issue with this situation is that the predictive error between both models increases as the mass range widens. Accordingly, the primary aim within this series of investigation was to determine which scaling model was more appropriate to describe the relationship between metabolic rate and body mass in humans..