Emotion is key to the effectiveness of media, whether it be in influencing memory, likability or persuasion. However, the understanding of the role of emotions in media effectiveness has been limited due to the difficulty in measuring emotions in real-life contexts. The lack of understanding of the effects of emotion in media results in large amounts of wasted time, money, and other resources; in this thesis Daniel McDuff presents the first large-scale emotion measurement studies on video advertising, political debates and movies.

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The human brain is made up of neurons, highly sophisticated and stable cellular structures. However, neurons are engaged in dynamically changing networks that provide a most energy efficient, spatially compact, and precise means to process input signals and generate adaptable responses to a changing environment. These networks can be characterized in humans using neurophysiologic and neuroimaging techniques.

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As robots move out of factory floors and into human environments, out from safe barricaded workstations to operating in close proximity with people, they will increasingly be expected to understand and coordinate with basic aspects of human behavior. If they are to become useful and productive participants in human-robot teams, they will require effective methods of modeling their human counterparts in order to better coordinate and cooperate with them.

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Over the course of six years, Elliott Hedman brought ambulatory psychophysiology into a variety of industries as a means of conducting design research. He looked at the stress of children in occupational therapy, the frustration of playing Hasbro board games, the thrill of driving a Google Self Driving Car, the confidence of shopping at Best Buy and Lowes, the excitement of playing LEGO Technic for the first time, the tension of watching one’s first symphony, and the anxiety of talking about birth control.

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Why do we reach for a cookie when we know an apple is better for us, even if we’re trying to lose weight? And, more to the point: What does it take to get us to reach for the apple instead? Find out what the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is learning about what it really takes to change people’s behavior. Drawing on ideas from the worlds of science, advertising, economics, social networking and design, Dr. Melichar will review major influence strategies and emerging research. At the end of her talk, she’d like to hear from you: What influences your behavior?

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This talk will provide an overview of the Intel Science and Technology Center for Pervasive Computing (ISTC-PC) and will highlight some of the research that will help drive the next generation of pervasive and ubiquitous computing. For the past 20 years, the pervasive and ubiquitous computing community has developed technology that allows sensing, computing, and wireless communication to be embedded in everyday objects, enabling a range of context-aware applications.

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Essential Self Technologies connect us with our essential nature through the sensing and feeling self. These technologies are often passive, ambient, and non-invasive. They involve the use of light, vibration, sound, and music to support us in discovering and sustaining flow-like states and contributing to a sense of embodiment. While quantified self technologies offer value by contributing to awareness (of steps, pulse ox, HRV, etc.), Essential Self Technologies support us in tapping into the wisdom of the body. Quantified Self is to Essential Self as syntax is to semantics. See:

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