Abstract

One key aspect of self-consciousness is the experience of being or having a body. Bodily experience is often approached from the perspective of multisensory integration, as illustrated in the now-famous rubber hand illusion. At the Sackler Centre, I have been working on several experiments using the state-of-art virtual reality technologies to investigate the embodied experiences of selfhood, such as body ownership and the feeling of agency. In this talk, I will first talk about the cardiac rubber hand illusion experiment, in which we found the visual feedback of our own heartbeat projected on a virtual hand induced the body ownership on the hand. Next, I will talk about our recent experiment investigating the intentional binding effect, an implicit measure of the feeling of agency, with a virtual hand setup. We found the intentional binding occurs by just observing the hand movement in the realistic virtual environments, even in the absence of the intentional action. Time permitting, I will also briefly introduce other VR setups I have developed.

Short Bio

Keisuke Suzuki obtained his Ph.D in Artificial Life from the University of Tokyo in 2007. He stayed as a research fellow in RIKEN Brain Science Institute, working on human cognitive functions in virtual reality environments (2008-2011). Here, with his colleagues, he developed a novel virtual reality system called Substitutional Reality. In this setup, people believe they are experiencing real-world scenes even though they are just exposed to pre-recorded ones. In 2011 he joined the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex as a post-doctoral research fellow. Keisuke's research focuses on the study of consciousness in terms of embodied cognition, investigating ideas like body ownership, feeling of agency, sense of presence, etc.. His approach builds on state-of-the-art virtual reality setups for the study of conscious presence and the bodily-self, complemented by theoretical modelling of embodied self-consciousness.

Abstract

I will begin with a short introduction to the Bristol VR Lab. I will share some insights from the early stages of the 'Virtual Realities: Immersive Documentary Encounters' project (October 2017), drawing on my previous research into interaction design for non-fiction (2011-2016). This will include observations from two exploratory activities - a database of non-fiction VR works (2012-2017) [w/ Chris Bevan] and a survey of award-winning VR producers [w/ Mandy Rose]. Given that we are still in the early stages of the (2.5 year) project, I will focus on our emerging research questions, with an invitation to feedback, ask questions and discuss.

Short Bio

David Green is a Research Fellow at the University of the West of England, based at Bristol VR (Virtual Reality) Lab. A documentary-maker and computer scientist, his PhD (at Open Lab Newcastle University) focused on interaction design for participation in interactive documentaries. After postdocs at Newcastle and Northumbria Universities, he is now working on the EPSRC-funded 'Virtual Realities: Immersive Documentary Encounters' project, which is taking a highly interdisciplinary approach to exploring immersive forms of non-fiction (e.g. journalism and documentary).

Abstract

Involving people in the process of designing technology that affects them is now a well established component of HCI research and practice. However, as with many forms of participation in decision-making in society, people living with visual impairments have had more limited opportunities to influence technology design across a variety of domains. A number of factors contribute to this; for example, many participatory design methods often rely on visual techniques, such as post-it notes and low-fi paper prototyping, to facilitate the expression and communication of design ideas; and while using visual means to express ideas for designing graphical interfaces is appropriate, it is harder to use them to articulate the design of, say, sonic or haptic artefacts, which are typical alternative modalities of interaction for people living with visual impairments. In this talk, I will outline our experience of engaging with people living with visual impairments and people with mixed visual abilities, where we adapted participatory design methods in order to jointly create meaningful technology, and describe some resulting research investigations that such engagement opened up in the areas of multisensory and crossmodal interaction design.

Short Bio

Oussama Metatla is an EPSRC Research Fellow at the Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, where he currently leads a project researching inclusive educational technology for children with mixed visual abilities in mainstream schools. His research interests include investigating multisensory user experiences with interactive technology and designing with and for people living with visual impairments. He received his PhD in 2011 from Queen Mary University of London for a thesis exploring and characterising the use of sound to support non-visual interaction. Following this, he was a Researcher Co-Investigator on two EPSRC projects Crossmodal Collaborative Interfaces and Design Patterns for Inclusive Collaboration, also at QMUL, and an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University before being awarded an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship, hosted at the University of Bristol.

Abstract

This talk will focus on my PhD that deals with visual, auditory and haptic feedback to guide older pedestrians in the city. I evaluate the effectiveness and user experience of turn-by-turn information provided through AR glasses, bone conduction earphones and a vibrotactile wristband. However, I am interested in all sensory modalities and interaction modes that could be used to guide a pedestrian.

Short Bio

Angelique is a PhD student in Human Factors at Telecom ParisTech (Paris, France). She is interested in sensory modalities used to provide navigation information to older pedestrians via mobile and/or wearable devices. She has studied Computer Sciences and Digital Culture at University of Rennes and has previous working experiences in designing websites, apps and learning contents.