Major Studio:Katherine Moriwaki / Final Projectbasak haznedaroglu

emotionBox

c o n c e p t

The digital world around us leading to desensitization

Dissolution of expressions and the loss of facial reactions to the physical world around

Losing connection in connected world

c o n c e p t

Facial expressions communicate information about emotions and enhance the verbal patterns of communication

A social phenomenon that individual emotional states are highly affected by other people’s emotional states around.

c o n c e p t

If only they had an Olympic event for facial athletes. (Paul Ekman)

-Text messaging, instant messaging, voice messaging became a part of our lives.-We are using emoticons instead of showing how we feel.

m o ti v a ti o n

Providing a set of emotional stimuli and evoking emotions for experimental investigations of facial expressions and bringing them back

g o a l

Why am I doing this?

Exploring the facial expressions and the emotional reactionsEnhancing the nonverbal communication with others /Investigating a social phenomenon whether emotional reactions are contagious

g o a l

Literature ReviewResearching on UX and Using audio and visual elements as emotional stimuliDiscussing and getting feedback from colleaguesInstalling physical computing elements and building physical constructions

m e t h o d o l o gy

d o m a i n s

cognitive sciencesociology

experimental psychology

physical computingaudio visualization

p r e c e d e n t s

MIT Media Lab and affective computing department / human face expression studies for sociable robots

p r e c e d e n t s

Bill Viola, The Passions / Depicting ambiguous or mixed faces, examining the manifestations of emotions

p r e c e d e n t s

Colorwave Monochrome Digital Art Workshop/Projecting visuals on human face to evoke emotion

p r e c e d e n t s

Paul Ekman/ studying on non verbal-behavioral science, exploring the cross-cultural differences in facial expressions

t e c h n o l o g y

arduino + processing + skype

s y s t e m d i a g r a m

s c e n a r i o

Box installation in the space

s c e n a r i o

Audio and visualizer to attract people’s attention

s c e n a r i o

Participant interacts with the remote control to choose which experience to go through

s c e n a r i o

Positive or negative emotional stimuli options

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Exposing a stream of still images and videos supported by audio visualizers

s c e n a r i o

Recording the participant face inside the box

s c e n a r i o

In the other room projecting it live

s c e n a r i o

Live screen supported with the previous records of facial expressions

d e s i g n p r o c e s s

Prototype #1

d e s i g n p r o c e s s

Prototype #1

Results

-Feedback on which visuals to use / User survey on favorite funny movies, happy moments, songs, etc..-Too distracting to concentrate on the experience / feedback on building the box

d e s i g n p r o c e s s

Paper Prototype

d e s i g n p r o c e s s

Prototype #2

Digital characters on both edges of the uncanny valley / Cartoon-like digital character vs. Humanized digital characters

d e s i g n p r o c e s s

Prototype #2

d e s i g n p r o c e s s

Prototype #2

Results

-Using one of the most intense emotion=disgust!-Instead of displaying a streamline, participant should choose the visual (button based interface)-Triggering a curiosity for the installation (what should be before the participant approaches?)-Feedback on projection in a separate space to enhance the surprising affect

d e s i g n p r o c e s s

Prototype #3

d e s i g n p r o c e s s

Prototype #3

Results

-Sequence of visuals and audio, feedback on the structure of the visuals-Projecting reactions on a bigger screen in a darker open space-Watching other people’s reactions is weird but achieves to evoke emotion-Pushing buttons to change videos is distracting. -Recording other people watching other people’s reactions?-A collage of images of reactions might be exhibited?

p r e c e d e n t s

Final Result

-People experiencing the box and having intense emotions and facial reactions “This is better than watching a movie!”“It is also good for my facial muscles too”

- Curiosity for people watching other people’s faces. “Where is the box???”

-“I felt like people were laughing at ME!”

- “It was very weird to watch 10 people smiling. But I wish they were following me wherever I go.”

c o n c l u s i o n s

f u t u r e i m p l e m e n t a ti o n

Next?

Carrying this experiment into an online platform and giving a facial expression exercise sessions.

Thank you!