Minimalist Approach to Perceptual Interactions

Work aimed at studying social cognition in an interactionist perspective often encounters substantial theoretical and methodological difficulties: identifying the significant behavioral variables; recording them without disturbing the interaction; and distinguishing between: (a) the necessary and sufficient contributions of each individual partner for a collective dynamics to emerge; (b) features which derive from this collective dynamics and escape from the control of the individual partners; and (c) the phenomena arising from this collective dynamics which are subsequently appropriated and used by the partners. We propose a minimalist experimental paradigm as a basis for this conceptual discussion: by reducing the sensory inputs to a strict minimum, we force a spatial and temporal deployment of the perceptual activities, which makes it possible to obtain a complete recording and control of the dynamics of interaction. After presenting the principles of this minimalist approach to perception, we describe a series of experiments on two major questions in social cognition: recognizing the presence of another intentional subject; and phenomena of imitation. In both cases, we propose explanatory schema which render an interactionist approach to social cognition clear and explicit. Starting from our earlier work on perceptual crossing we present a new experiment on the mechanisms of reciprocal recognition of the perceptual intentionality of the other subject: the emergent collective dynamics of the perceptual crossing can be appropriated by each subject. We then present an experimental study of opaque imitation (when the subjects cannot see what they themselves are doing). This study makes it possible to characterize what a properly interactionist approach to imitation might be. In conclusion, we draw on these results, to show how an interactionist approach can contribute to a fully social approach to social cognition

Leroi-Gourhan: Technical Trends and Human Cognition

The work of Leroi-Gourhan has had a strong impact on twentieth century French thought. To account for the origin of our human capacities of memory, anticipation and language, Leroi-Gourhan builds on a “Technology” understood as the study of the functional linkage between the organisms and their environment. In continuity with the biological world, without sudden event, it is to explain the gradual separation of social memory by the interplay of technical innovations that will allow free thinking detached from the immediate situation. The fulcrum of this liberation is the tool: both a biological fact and a movable organ, it permits the passage from the biological world to the human world

The Fusion of Smartphone Sensors for Indoor 3D Position and Orientation Estimation

The improvement in smartphone technology has encouraged the exploration in field of user experience. The internal inertial navigation system sensors of a smartphone enables it to infer the its three dimensional indoor orientation and position when it is being pointed at certain objects by hand. However, the sensors’ flawed measurements complicate estimation of position and orientation precisely. Previous studies shows that sensor fusion of both internal and external measurements can enhanced the performance. However, those estimations didn’t cover the pointer-like usage. To achieve the possibility of smartphone as pointer, the estimation using sensor fusion has been performed. Unfortunately, these experiments resulted in bad position estimation for small precision, while the orientation estimation was passabl

Technical innovation in human science: Examples in cognitive technologies

In order to show how technological innovation and scientific innovation are linked in the course of research in human science, we present an account of a series of innovations made in our laboratory (Distal Glove – Tactos system – Intertact server – Dialtact module). We will thus see how research on the technical constitution of cognitive and perceptual activities can be associated with a process of innovation. Devices which were initially developed for the purposes of performing experiments contributed both to scientific inventions and to developments with a practical and social finality

There is something out there: distal attribution in sensory substitution, twenty years later.

Sensory substitution constitutes an interesting domain of study to consider the philosopher's classical question of distal attribution: how we can distinguish between a sensation and the perception of an object that causes this sensation. We tested the hypothesis that distal attribution consists of three distinct components: an object, a perceptual space, and a coupling between subjects' movements and stimulation. We equipped sixty participants with a visual-to-auditory substitution device, without any information about it. The device converts the video stream produced by a head-mounted camera into a sound stream. We investigated several experimental conditions: the existence or not of a correlation between movements and resulting stimulation, the direct or indirect manipulation of an object, and the presence of a background environment. Participants were asked to describe their impressions by rating their experiences in terms of seven possible "scenarios". These scenarios were carefully chosen to distinguish the degree to which the participants attributed their sensations to a distal cause. Participants rated the scenarios both before and after they were given the possibility to interrupt the stimulation with an obstacle. We were interested in several questions. Did participants extract laws of co-variation between their movements and resulting stimulation? Did they deduce the existence of a perceptual space originating from this coupling? Did they individuate objects that caused the sensations? Whatever the experimental conditions, participants were able to establish that there was a link between their movements and the resulting auditory stimulation. Detection of the existence of a coupling was more frequent than the inferences of distal space and object

La constitution de l’expérience d’autrui

Pour un arbitrage entre la théorie cognitive de l’esprit et la phénoménologie de l’intersubjectivité la technologie simule une situation de croisement perceptif dans un espace virtuel, où la reconnaissance par un agent de la présence d’un autre repose uniquement sur l’interaction comportementale. À la justification de Merleau-Ponty et Varela quant au caractère non représentationnel ni inférentiel de la reconnaissance d’autrui, en dissociant celle-ci d’avec une détermination spatiale, on ajoutera un analogon technologique de l’expérience du « visage » comme halo de présence non objectivable, d’après Levinas.To settle the difference between cognitive theory of mind and phenomenology of intersubjectivity technology simulates a situation of perceptual crossing in a virtual space, where recognition by an agent of the presence of another one relies solely on behavioral interaction. Besides a vindication of Merleau-Ponty and Varela regarding the non representational, non inferential nature of another’s recognition, by disassociating it from spatial determination, technology provides an analogue of the experience of “face”, a non objectifiable halo of presence after Levinas

Tactile-force-feedback integration as an exemplary case for the sense of touche in VE. A new T-FFD device to explore spatial irregularities

International audienceThe tactile-force-feedback (T-FFD) integration is pertinent for (at least) two situations in which the role of tactile should be explored: 1) grip control in tasks of prehension ; 2) exploration of spatial irregularities. We have identified and have begun to explore 4 major cases in which the T-FFD integration is important

Suppléance perceptive et cognition sociale (étude des interactions tactiles minimalistes)

Cette recherche s inscrit dans le cadre de l élaboration d espaces numériques d interaction tactile, en tant qu ils sont rendus possibles par la connexion en réseau d un dispositif de suppléance perceptive. Dans ce contexte, nous avons articulé une recherche appliquée, centrée sur les analyses d usage du dispositif dans des contextes écologiques, à une recherche fondamentale, dirigée par les questions théoriques soulevées par les usages eux-mêmes.Pour cela, la méthodologie minimaliste nous offre une occasion originale d étudier la constitution même des rencontres interpersonnelles, à travers un espace de couplage sensorimoteur inédit. Nos résultats généraux suggèrent que le processus de l interaction est une dynamique relationnelle autonome qui émerge de l engagement mutuel des participants. Dans une approche énactive et interactionniste de la cognition sociale, il s agit alors de considérer que le croisement perceptif entre deux sujets, même réduit à son expression la plus simple, consiste en la rencontre de deux activités perceptives construisant du sens. Dans le contexte de rencontres strictement dyadiques, nous tentons de caractériser cette dynamique, de façon à en isoler les éléments constitutifs. Nous montrons alors que la coordination interpersonnelle résulte d un processus actif de co-ajustements dynamiques qui se joue autant à un niveau microscopique (qualité de l accroche perceptive) qu à un niveau macroscopique (organisation de séquences d interaction). Dans le contexte de l exploration mutuelle d un contenu numérique, nous montrons que cette dynamique d interaction permet aux participants de faire sens de leurs engagements respectifs en fonction des objets présents. La coordination des activités perceptives se présente alors comme le support de la co-constitution d un monde partagé de significations, à travers une compréhension interpersonnelle ancrée dans un contexte pragmatique. En outre, l articulation des expérimentations et des analyses d usage écologiques nous a conduits à proposer des spécifications techniques et fonctionnelles pour les espaces numériques partagés, de façon à proposer un dispositif pertinent pour les utilisateurs déficients visuels.Our research is part of the design of tactile interaction digital spaces, as they are made possible by a network connection between perceptual supplementation devices. Within this framework, we articulated an applied research, focused on the analysis of use of the device in ecological contexts, with a fundamental one, led by theoretical issues raised by the usage itself. In this respect, minimalist methodology gives us an opportunity to study the very constitution of interpersonal encounters, through a new space of sensorimotor coupling for users.Our overall results suggest that interaction process is an autonomous relational dynamics that emerges from the mutual engagement of participants. Within an enactive and interactionist approach of social cognition, we consider that this perceptual crossing, even when reduced to its simplest expression, involves the meeting of two perceptual activities which inherently produce sense. In the context of strictly dyadic encounters, we try to characterize this dynamic, so as to isolate its fundamental features. We show that interpersonal coordination results from an active process of dynamic co-adjustments that unfolds both on a microscopic level (quality of the perceptual coupling) and on a macroscopic level (organization of interaction sequences). In the case of mutual exploration of digital content, we show that this dynamic interaction allows participants to make sense of their respective engagement relatively to the present objects. The coordination of perceptual activities is then presented as a support for the co-constitution of a shared world of meanings, from an interpersonal understanding rooted in a pragmatic context.In addition, these experiments, coupled to ecological usage analysis, have led us to propose technical and functional specifications for shared digital spaces, so as to provide a relevant device for visually impaired users.COMPIEGNE-BU (601592101) / SudocSudocFranceF