Audio-tactile stimuli to improve health and well-being : a preliminary position paper

From literature and through common experience it is known that stimulation of the tactile (touch) sense or auditory (hearing) sense can be used to improve people's health and well-being. For example, to make people relax, feel better, sleep better or feel comforted. In this position paper we propose the concept of combined auditory-tactile stimulation and argue that it potentially has positive effects on human health and well-being through influencing a user's body and mental state. Such effects have, to date, not yet been fully explored in scientific research. The current relevant state of the art is briefly addressed and its limitations are indicated. Based on this, a vision is presented of how auditory-tactile stimulation could be used in healthcare and various other application domains. Three interesting research challenges in this field are identified: 1) identifying relevant mechanisms of human perception of combined auditory-tactile stimuli; 2) finding methods for automatic conversions between audio and tactile content; 3) using measurement and analysis of human bio-signals and behavior to adapt the stimulation in an optimal way to the user. Ideas and possible routes to address these challenges are presented

Overgeneral Memory in Depression

This work is a phenomenological exploration of overgeneral memory in depressed patients. It reviews the current philosophical literature on the first-person experience of depression, which has so far omitted the phenomenon of overgeneral memory. However, this phenomenon is well documented within psychology; and this essay will show that its symptomatic appearance in depression and subsequent disturbance of self- experience justifies attention to the phenomenon within the phenomenology of depression. Both the theory of embodiment and the extended mind thesis work extensively with the nature of memory in other conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia. Thus, these philosophical approaches will be utilised in an analysis of overgeneral memory; this will enrich the philosophy of depression, memory and self and highlight the value of the concepts of embodiment and the extended mind. Moreover, this philosophical interrogation suggests a route toward therapeutic interventions to help patients suffering from overgeneral memory applying techniques from extended mind and cognition studies

The Shape of Poetry: A Typographic Exploration of Poetry and Synesthesia

The Shape of Poetry is a thesis which explores the relationships of synesthesia, typography and poetry. Synesthesia is a neurologically-based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. This phenomenon is common in poetry as a rhetorical device. In graphic design, we uses typography and other visual elements to make cross-sensory metaphors as well. The similarity among these three provides a new field of research possibilities. The goal of the thesis is to visualize poetry by exploring typographic variations and implementing synesthesia findings. The final result is a campaign to promote William Shakespeare’s sonnets, in both print and digital applications. Overall the findings of this thesis aim at giving designers another angle when designing for multi-media platforms, and inspire those who have the similar interests in the relationship of sensory perception and design

Should Acoustic Simulation Technology be Utilised in Architectural Practice? Does it have the Potential for BIM Integration?

The research presented in this paper, firstly, aims to convey the importance of our acoustic environment through focusing on the effects of undesirable acoustic conditions on cognitive abilities in spaces where cognitive performance is of the utmost concern, our learning environments. Secondly, it aims to investigate current state-of-the-art acoustic simulation methods, available platforms, and their levels of interoperability with architectural BIM authoring software. Structured interviews were carried out with 7 Irish architects and architectural technologists to determine if a disconnection between architectural design and acoustic performance exists and to identify the advantages and disadvantages of current workflows for acoustic performance evaluation. Additionally, industry opinions were gathered on whether it is measurable that our acoustic environments are at a disadvantage as a result of the apparent gap in available integrated acoustic evaluation solutions for a BIM-enabled design workflow, and finally to investigate industry demand for better integration of acoustic evaluation tools with BIM authoring platforms

Knapping in the Dark:Stone Tools and a Theory of Mind

Understanding the cognitive abilities of our hominin ancestors remains challenging. Recent years have seen many advances, especially new fossil discoveries and the Paleogenetic data that has illuminated the mosaic nature of past hominin interactions across multiple human species. However, the primary route to accessing the behavioral and cognitive worlds of our hominin ancestors still remains firmly rooted in the archaeological record, particularly stone tools, the direct products of hominin actions grounded in the physical, social, and cognitive worlds occupied by the knappers. A theory of mind has long been considered a key component of the human condition, linked to both language and the development of abstract thought. There must therefore be a point (or perhaps multiple points) in our evolutionary history when hominins gained a theory of mind. This ability should, in turn, be reflected in the archaeological record. To date, however, only limited attempts have been made to correlate the two. This paper thus explores the relationship between the various stone tool traditions and theory of mind

Enhancing English Proficiency for Filipinos Through a Multimedia Approach Based on Constructivist Learning Theory

This research aims to explain Filipinos' English language proficiency through a Multimedia Approach Based on Constructivist Learning Theory. This research is qualitative with a library research approach. The research data is in the form of Filipino English language proficiency with data sources accessed from several recent journal studies. Data collection techniques using documentation. While data analysis with content analysis techniques. The research results show in the context of English study, multimedia has provided learners with unique features and benefits. Constructivist learning theory, on the other hand, has had a considerable impact on students' learning processes and progress as one of the most fundamental teaching theories in the field of education. This study looks at a wide range of sources to support the claim that integrating multimedia and constructivism theory improved students' overall English learning experience. While the authors of this study thought it would help students improve their English learning, they also wanted to give teachers a better method to help them reduce stress in the classroom while still providing an effective teaching-learning process

Innovations In Counseling.

The definition of counseling has evolved into a broader scope since the year 2000

Lifeworld Inc. : and what to do about it

Can we detect changes in the way that the world turns up as they turn up? This paper makes such an attempt. The first part of the paper argues that a wide-ranging change is occurring in the ontological preconditions of Euro-American cultures, based in reworking what and how an event is produced. Driven by the security – entertainment complex, the aim is to mass produce phenomenological encounter: Lifeworld Inc as I call it. Swimming in a sea of data, such an aim requires the construction of just enough authenticity over and over again. In the second part of the paper, I go on to argue that this new world requires a different kind of social science, one that is experimental in its orientation—just as Lifeworld Inc is—but with a mission to provoke awareness in untoward ways in order to produce new means of association. Only thus, or so I argue, can social science add to the world we are now beginning to live in