Presentations

• Bioinformatics and the Human-Computer Interface

  New computer interfaces are becoming available which transform human biologically-generated activity into viable data input sources for computers. Human-sourced activity such as the physiological signals manifested by the heart, skeletal muscle, neuronal activity of the brain, eye movements, skin conductance or pulse are viable input data sources for computers and provide a wealth of information not readily available via alternate means. Methods for collection, analysis and interpretation of these types of data were presented. Consider the concept of computer interfaces that are capable of discerning one’s emotional dimension and motivational state for the purposes of enhancing and improving the creative design process and associated results. The realization of “emotional – motivational state resonance” between the designer and computer application could result in rapidly obtained design results that match the designer’s objectives. Such methodology could also be applied to recipients to deliver meaningful data back to the designer for inclusion in the design process.

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  • March 2010: TU Delft, Netherlands
  • March 2010: Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM), Amsterdam, Netherlands
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  • March 2010: Media Technology, University of Aalborg, Denmark
  • April 2010: Media Arts and Technology, UCSB
  • April 2010: Fishbon Arts Collaborative, Event Lab, Santa Barbara, CA
  • October 2010: Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
  • March 2015: In Touch Health, Goleta, CA
  • November 2015: MAXMSP Music Class, Computer Science Dept., Virginia Polytechnic, VA
    • Bioinformatics

• To Radiate Essential Nature

  In the pivotal years 1791-1794, methods and results developed by L. Galvani and A. Volta establish a profound basis for the scientific fields of electrophysiology and electrical telecommunications. Galvani’s twitching frog (and inadvertent battery) lead to the understanding that electricity mediates the flow of information inside the body. Volta’s pile battery created a stable power source for the seminal work of Faraday, Oersted and Ohm. Human nervous system extension took a significant leap forward with the development of the telephone in 1876. Electricity moving inside the body could now directly mediate the flow of electricity outside the body, at a relatively high bit rate. In these most recent 220 years, the human nervous system has been greatly extended through the use of evolving telecommunications technology. We are now augmenting voice and image transfer modalities with techniques that extend the reach of new types of human-sourced data, such as emotional and motivational state.

  Slide Deck

  • May 2012: Dutch Electronics Arts Festival (DEAF), Rotterdam, Netherlands
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  • May 2012: Fishbon Event Lab, Santa Barbara, CA

• Beauty and the Origins of Electrophysiology, Telecommunications and the Global Theater

  A tale that starts 360 B.C.E. and moves to the 17th century and beyond. A patchwork quilt story that starts with beauty and weaves its definition with emotional feeling, taste, the galvanic cell, electrophysiology, the telephone, re-tribalization and the Omega Point. Lambert’s, Hume’s and Sulzer’s ideas about taste, pleasure and appreciation of beauty have contributed to the origins of psychophysiological thought, and to the origins of electrophysiology. Methods developed by Galvani and Volta establish basis for the fields of electrophysiology and electrical telecommunications. Galvani’s twitching frog led to the understanding that electricity mediates the flow of information inside the body. Volta’s battery created a stable power source for the seminal work of Oersted and Faraday. Human nervous system extension was realized with the development of the telephone in 1876. Electricity moving inside the body could now directly mediate the flow of electricity outside the body, at an equivalent bit rate. At this transformative, technology-driven juncture, the body’s real-time nervous system components for speech and hearing were capable of being physically extended to great distances. Real-time, human nervous system extension technologies became tightly synchronized with power generation and transmission abilities. Extremely rapid human population growth and energy consumption was coincident.

  • February 2013: Media Arts and Technology, UCSB
  • April 2013: Lucidity Festival, Santa Barbara, CA
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  • May 2014: Architecture Department, Dalhousie, Nova Scotia, Canada
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  • May 2014: Google Inc., TechTalk, Mountain View, CA
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  • November 2014: California Biofeedback Society, 40th Anniversary Conference, Oakland, CA
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  • October 2015: Shanghai Crystal Globe Cultural Expo, Lingang, China
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  • October 2015: TEDx “Lift-Off”, Asia World Expo, Hong Kong
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• Perception, Filtering and Art

  The human sensory system is a filtering system. Physical form and activity are perceived by the senses and translated into modulated streams of ionic current. These currents are moved though the body, via the nervous system, to the brain. Specialized brain regions receive and decipher these modulated current signals to process them for interpretation by other functionalities operating within the body. There are volitional and non-volitional (autonomic) aspects to our bodies. We can consciously and intentionally stimulate motor neurons, which innervate muscle fibers, to move our bodies. Other processes, like heart rate, digestion and perspiration are primarily subconsciously mediated. Some actions, like breathing, are subject to both subconscious and conscious control. And certainly, our conscious thought rests upon an emotional sea and our emotions are linked to autonomic processes in our bodies. If aroused, we can experience increased heart rate and perspiration. If we are happy, delicate muscles in our face contract to create a smile. Our mood, which stimulates our conscious thought, will influence our perception because our emotional substrate acts as a neurological filter. There is no clear separation between the medium either outside or inside the body. Human perception encompasses a continuum of medium filters. And also, the links between body and environment are richer than these connected medium filters. There is a resonance that’s established between body and environment that is subject to the cause and effect relationship between physiological and emotional state. We are stimulated by the environmental medium, and in turn, we can manipulate that medium, thus mixing cause and effect.

  • October 2015: Shanghai Crystal Globe Cultural Expo, Lingang, China
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• Origin Story

  Visual Autobiography – 1958 to Present Day

  • November 2015: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit, Virginia Polytechnic, Blacksburg, VA
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    • Origins