Unveiling the multimedia unconscious: implicit cognitive processes and multimedia content analysis

One of the main findings of cognitive sciences is that automatic processes of which we are unaware shape, to a significant extent, our perception of the environment. The phenomenon applies not only to the real world, but also to multimedia data we consume every day. Whenever we look at pictures, watch a video or listen to audio recordings, our conscious attention efforts focus on the observable content, but our cognition spontaneously perceives intentions, beliefs, values, attitudes and other constructs that, while being outside of our conscious awareness, still shape our reactions and behavior. So far, multimedia technologies have neglected such a phenomenon to a large extent. This paper argues that taking into account cognitive effects is possible and it can also improve multimedia approaches. As a supporting proof-of-concept, the paper shows not only that there are visual patterns correlated with the personality traits of 300 Flickr users to a statistically significant extent, but also that the personality traits (both self-assessed and attributed by others) of those users can be inferred from the images these latter post as "favourite"

Harmony and Technology Enhanced Learning

New technologies offer rich opportunities to support education in harmony. In this chapter we consider theoretical perspectives and underlying principles behind technologies for learning and teaching harmony. Such perspectives help in matching existing and future technologies to educational purposes, and to inspire the creative re-appropriation of technologies

Space time pixels

This paper reports the design of a networked system, the aim of which is to provide an intermediate virtual space that will establish a connection and support interaction between multiple participants in two distant physical spaces. The intention of the project is to explore the potential of the digital space to generate original social relationships between people that their current (spatial or social) position can difficultly allow the establishment of innovative connections. Furthermore, to explore if digital space can sustain, in time, low-level connections like these, by balancing between the two contradicting needs of communication and anonymity. The generated intermediate digital space is a dynamic reactive environment where time and space information of two physical places is superimposed to create a complex common ground where interaction can take place. It is a system that provides awareness of activity in a distant space through an abstract mutable virtual environment, which can be perceived in several different ways – varying from a simple dynamic background image to a common public space in the junction of two private spaces or to a fully opened window to the other space – according to the participants will. The thesis is that the creation of an intermediary environment that operates as an activity abstraction filter between several users, and selectively communicates information, could give significance to the ambient data that people unconsciously transmit to others when co-existing. It can therefore generate a new layer of connections and original interactivity patterns; in contrary to a straight-forward direct real video and sound system, that although it is functionally more feasible, it preserves the existing social constraints that limit interaction into predefined patterns