Using thermal stimuli to influence affect in different picture display sizes

The ability of images to evoke emotions in people has been well documented in previous research, as well as the differences in the emotional perception of images when viewed on different-sized screens and device types. The ability of thermal stimuli to evoke emotions in people when used for media augmentation has also been examined. However little is known about how thermal stimuli can be used to enhance or reduce affect in images with varying emotional properties displayed in different sizes or on different devices. To the best of our knowledge no work has been conducted to investigate if there is any difference in the effect thermal augmentation has on images displayed in different sizes on different device types. This paper presents two user studies to address this research gap. Study 1 explored the effect thermal stimulation has on images displayed in different sizes. Images were displayed in sizes corresponding to the full screen display of a laptop, tablet and mobile phone. In study 2 we examined whether the actual presentation device (tablet and mobile) plays a role in the emotional perception of images displayed on mobile devices. Results showed that thermal augmentation was most effective in modulating emotions in small-sized pictures (427x240 pixels display size) and pictures displayed on a mobile phone. Thermal stimuli also reduced emotions in medium display sizes (corresponding to the full screen display of a tablet)

Multi-Moji: Combining Thermal, Vibrotactile and Visual Stimuli to Expand the Affective Range of Feedback

This paper explores the combination of multiple concurrent modalities for conveying emotional information in HCI: temperature, vibration and abstract visual displays. Each modality has been studied individually, but can only convey a limited range of emotions within two-dimensional valencearousal space. This paper is the first to systematically combine multiple modalities to expand the available affective range. Three studies were conducted: Study 1 measured the emotionality of vibrotactile feedback by itself; Study 2 measured the perceived emotional content of three bimodal combinations: vibrotactile + thermal, vibrotactile + visual and visual + thermal. Study 3 then combined all three modalities. Results show that combining modalities increases the available range of emotional states, particularly in the problematic top-right and bottom-left quadrants of the dimensional model. We also provide a novel lookup resource for designers to identify stimuli to convey a range of emotions

Using thermal stimuli to enhance photo-sharing in social media

Limited work has been undertaken to show how the emotive ability of thermal stimuli can be used for interaction purposes. One potential application area is using thermal stimuli to influence emotions in images shared online such as social media platforms. This paper presents a two-part study, which examines how the documented emotive property of thermal stimuli can be applied to enhance social media images. Participants in part-one supplied images from their personal collection or social media profiles, and were asked to augment each image with thermal stimuli based on the emotions they wanted to enhance or reduce. Part-one participants were interviewed to understand the effects they wanted augmented images to have. In part-two, these augmented images were perceived by a different set of participants in a simulated social media interface. Results showed strong agreement between the emotions augmented images were designed to evoke and the emotions they actually evoked as perceived by part-two participants. Participants in part-one selected thermal stimuli augmentation intended to modulate valence and arousal in images as a way of enhancing the realism of the images augmented. Part-two results indicate this was achieved as participants perceived thermal stimuli augmentation reduced valence in negative images and modulated valence and arousal in positive images

Mapping Abstract Visual Feedback to a Dimensional Model of Emotion

Recent HCI research has looked at conveying emotions through non-visual modalities, such as vibrotactile and thermal feedback. However, emotion is primarily conveyed through visual signals, and so this research aims to support the design of emotional visual feedback. We adapt and extend the design of the "pulsing amoeba" [29], and measure the emotion conveyed through the abstract visual designs. It is a first step towards more holistic multimodal affective feedback combining visual, auditory and tactile stimuli. An online survey garnered valence and arousal ratings of 32 stimuli that varied in colour, contour, pulse size and pulse speed. The results support previous research but also provide new findings and highlight the effects of each individual visual parameter on perceived emotion. We present a mapping of all stimulus combinations onto the common two-dimensional valence-arousal model of emotion

Change blindness: eradication of gestalt strategies

Arrays of eight, texture-defined rectangles were used as stimuli in a one-shot change blindness (CB) task where there was a 50% chance that one rectangle would change orientation between two successive presentations separated by an interval. CB was eliminated by cueing the target rectangle in the first stimulus, reduced by cueing in the interval and unaffected by cueing in the second presentation. This supports the idea that a representation was formed that persisted through the interval before being 'overwritten' by the second presentation (Landman et al, 2003 Vision Research 43149–164]. Another possibility is that participants used some kind of grouping or Gestalt strategy. To test this we changed the spatial position of the rectangles in the second presentation by shifting them along imaginary spokes (by ±1 degree) emanating from the central fixation point. There was no significant difference seen in performance between this and the standard task [F(1,4)=2.565, p=0.185]. This may suggest two things: (i) Gestalt grouping is not used as a strategy in these tasks, and (ii) it gives further weight to the argument that objects may be stored and retrieved from a pre-attentional store during this task

Haptics: Science, Technology, Applications

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Human Haptic Sensing and Touch Enabled Computer Applications, EuroHaptics 2020, held in Leiden, The Netherlands, in September 2020. The 60 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 111 submissions. The were organized in topical sections on haptic science, haptic technology, and haptic applications. This year's focus is on accessibility

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 349)

This bibliography lists 149 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during April, 1991. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance