Transformative Experience Design
In the last couple of years, I and my team have been intensively working on a new research program in Positive Technology: Transformative Experience Design.In short, the goal of this project is to understand how virtual reality, brain-based technologies and the language of arts can support transformative experiences, that is, emotional experiences that promote deep personal change.About Transformative Experience DesignAs noted by Miller and C ’de Baca, there are experiences in life that are able to generate profound and long-lasting shifts in core beliefs and attitudes, including subjective self-transforma...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - December 13, 2018 Category: Information Technology Tags: Biofeedback & neurofeedback Blue sky Technology spirituality Transformative Experience Design Virtual worlds Wearable mobile Source Type: blogs
€4 million EU grant for research into providing sustainable informal care
Over €4 million worth of EU funding has been awarded to the international network ‘ENTWINE informal care’, led by Prof. Mariët Hagedoorn and Prof. Robbert Sanderman from the department of Health Psychology at the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG). The grant will be used to train 15 novice researchers to study and solve questions relating to sustainable ways of providing informal care.Informal carers provide unpaid care to relatives or friends with a chronic illness, disability or another long-term care need. An ageing population and medical advances are causing a sharp rise in the care needs of the elderly ...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - October 18, 2018 Category: Information Technology Tags: Positive App Positive Technology events Research institutions & funding opportunities Source Type: blogs
The development of the Awe Experience Scale
Awe is a complex emotion composed of an appraisal of vastness and a need for accommodation. The purpose of this study was to develop a robust state measure of awe, the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S), based on the extant experimental literature. In study 1, participants (N = 501) wrote about an intense moment of awe that they had experienced and then completed a survey about their experience. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 6-factor structure, including: altered time perception (F1); self-diminishment (F2); connectedness (F3); perceived vastness (F4); physical sensations (F5); need for accommodation (F6). Internal cons...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - September 23, 2018 Category: Information Technology Tags: Emotional computing Source Type: blogs
Blockchain technology: living in a decentralized everything
In the last months, there has been a growing interest about blockchain technology, the open and distributed ledger that is at the heart of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This technology is based on a peer-to-peer network that allows storing any type of transaction in a verifiable and trustworthy way.However, the most important feature of blockchain is that its distributed nature makes any type of centralized control authority superfluous: each transaction is monitored and approved by all the users within the ledger, which ensures the fairness of the process and also guarantees that the data cannot be traced ...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - September 23, 2018 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
New Frontiers research topic on Positive Technology (Manuscript submission: 28 Feb 2018)
We are very excited to present this newFrontiers research topic on Positive TechnologyFrontiers in Psychology is the #1 largest and the #2 most cited psychology journal in the world.Impact Factor: 2.463 (as accessed May 2017)Submission Deadlines30 September 2017 -> Abstract28 February 2018 -> ManuscriptWe look forward to receive your contribution!About this Research TopicIn recent years, there has been a growing interest in the potential role that digital technologies can play in promoting well-being. Smartphones, wearable devices, virtual/augmented reality, social media, and the internet provide a wealth of useful t...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - May 16, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Call for papers Positive Technology events Research tools Source Type: blogs
New ResearchGate Project on Positive Technology
I have created a new project in ResearchGate for those of you who are interested to get the latest updates in PT research (including full-text access to most of our papers):https://www.researchgate.net/project/Positive-Technology-Designing-digital-e-experiences-for-positive-personal-changeIt is also a useful tool to explore scientific collaboration opportunities, so if you find anything that matches your interests please let us know! (Source: Positive Technology Journal)
Source: Positive Technology Journal - April 11, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Positive Technology events Research tools Source Type: blogs
Crowdsourcing VR research
If 2016 has been a golden year for virtual reality, there is reason to believe that the coming year may be even better. According to a recent market forecast byInternational Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide revenues for the augmented reality and virtual reality market are projected to grow from $5.2 billion in 2016 to more than $162 billion in 2020.With virtual reality becoming a mass product, it becomes crucial to understand its psychological effects on users.Over the last decade, a growing body of research has been addressing the positive and negative implications of virtual experience for the human mind. Yet many quest...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - April 6, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Research tools Telepresence & virtual presence Virtual worlds Source Type: blogs
Bringing more transparency to AI
The development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken giant steps during the last decade, to the point that for many experts, including the world-renowned astrophysics Stephen Hawking and hi-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, AI could even destroy our civilization by overtaking humans. However, on the other side, AI may bring about huge benefits for the humankind, some of which may be still beyond our imagination of today. Thus, the scientific community is faced with the challenge of how we can develop powerful AI systems that support our civilization, preventing, at the same time, the potential side effects of an uncontroll...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - February 28, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Research tools Social Media Source Type: blogs
Ping-Pong Robot
Developed by Omron Corporation, FORPHEUS (Future Omron Robotics Technology for Exploring Possibility of Harmonized aUtomation with Sinic Theoretics) has officially been given the Guinness World Records title for being the First robot table tennis tutor for its unique technological intelligence and educational capabilities.According to the project's lead developer Taku Oya, the goal of FORPHEUS was to harmonise humans and robots, by way of teaching the game of table tennis to human players.The machine is easily able to act as a coach thanks to cutting edge vision and motion sensors it can use to gage movement during a match...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - February 28, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: AI & robotics Source Type: blogs
The Potential of Virtual Reality for the Investigation of Awe
Alice Chirico, David B. Yaden, Giuseppe Riva and Andrea GaggioliFront. Psychol., 09 November 2016https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01766Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universit à Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, ItalyThe emotion of awe is characterized by the perception of vastness and a need for accommodation, which can include a positive and/or negative valence. While a number of studies have successfully manipulated this emotion, the issue of how to elicit particularly intense awe experiences in laboratory settings remains. We suggest that virtual reality (VR) is a particularly effective mood induction tool for elicitin...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - February 22, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Technology & spirituality Virtual worlds Source Type: blogs
acebook Study Finds Introverts Feel More Comfortable with VR Social Interaction
ViaRoadToVrA recent study by Facebook IQ, in which people completed one-on-one conversations in VR, concluded that most people respond positively, and introverts in particular feel more comfortable. Facebook IQ is a team established to assist marketers in understanding the way people communicate online and offline.Facebook has been exploring the potential of social VR since their famous acquisition of Oculus VR in 2014. More recently, they detailed the results of theirsocial VR avatar experiments and are planning to launch a ‘social VR app’ very soon. A different social experiment was recently completed by Facebook IQ,...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - January 19, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Research tools Social Media Virtual worlds Source Type: blogs
Facebook Study Finds Introverts Feel More Comfortable with VR Social Interaction
ViaRoadToVrA recent study by Facebook IQ, in which people completed one-on-one conversations in VR, concluded that most people respond positively, and introverts in particular feel more comfortable. Facebook IQ is a team established to assist marketers in understanding the way people communicate online and offline.Facebook has been exploring the potential of social VR since their famous acquisition of Oculus VR in 2014. More recently, they detailed the results of theirsocial VR avatar experiments and are planning to launch a ‘social VR app’ very soon. A different social experiment was recently completed by Facebook IQ,...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - January 19, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Research tools Social Media Virtual worlds Source Type: blogs
Babies exposed to stimulation get brain boost
Source: The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)Many new parents still think that babies should develop at their own pace, and that they shouldn't be challenged to do things that they're not yet ready for. Infants should learn to roll around under their own power, without any " helpful " nudges, and they shouldn't support their weight before they can stand or walk on their own. They mustn't be potty trained before they are ready for it.According to neuroscientist Audrey van der Meer, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) this mindset can be traced back to the early 1900s,...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - January 2, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Brain stimulation Brain training & cognitive enhancement Source Type: blogs
Mind-controlled toys: The next generation of Christmas presents?
Source: University of Warwick The next generation of toys could be controlled by the power of the mind, thanks to research by the University of Warwick.Led by Professor Christopher James, Director of Warwick Engineering in Biomedicine at the School of Engineering, technology has been developed which allows electronic devices to be activated using electrical impulses from brain waves, by connecting our thoughts to computerised systems. Some of the most popular toys on children's lists to Santa - such as remote-controlled cars and helicopters, toy robots and Scalextric racing sets - could all be controlled via a headset...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - January 2, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Biofeedback & neurofeedback Brain stimulation Brain training cognitive enhancement Brain-computer interface Source Type: blogs
The Potential of Virtual Reality for the Investigation of Awe
Alice Chirico, David B. Yaden, Giuseppe Riva and Andrea GaggioliFront. Psychol., 09 November 2016 |https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01766The emotion of awe is characterized by the perception of vastness and a need for accommodation, which can include a positive and/or negative valence. While a number of studies have successfully manipulated this emotion, the issue of how to elicit particularly intense awe experiences in laboratory settings remains. We suggest that virtual reality (VR) is a particularly effective mood induction tool for eliciting awe. VR provides three key assets for improving awe. First, VR provides user...
Source: Positive Technology Journal - January 2, 2017 Category: Information Technology Tags: Emotional computing Research tools Virtual worlds Source Type: blogs
