Body driven cognition : writing to the body to influence the mind

To build effective HCI interventions on cognitive processes, we must build off of updated and inclusive cognitive models. Recent research in psychology distinguishes levels of consciousness into a tripartite model - conscious, unconscious, and meta-conscious. HCI technologies largely focus on the conscious pathway for computer-to-human interaction, requiring explicit user attention and action. In contrast, the other two pathways provide opportunities to create new interfaces that can alter emotion, cognition, and behavior without demands on attentional resources. In this thesis, we present a framework for creating technological interfaces that engage different cognitive processes, such as emotions. These direct interfaces connect to cognitive processes that are in our perception but outside our conscious control. Our goal is to provide a finer categorization of cognitive processes that can help classify HCI research related to activating non-conscious cognitive pathways. We present the design of two wearable devices, MoveU and Frisson that highlight the modulation of cognitive processes through body-based input. The contribution of this thesis is twofold: first, the tools developed in this work provide a platform for researchers to experiment by engineering cognitive processes. This could allow researchers to evaluate the causation rather than correlations in the manifestations of cognitive processes and ask new questions about links between our physiology and psychology. Second, the framework provides researchers and designers a new design space and highlights that awareness of consciousness levels can be a valuable design element and can help to expand the range of computer-to-human interface devices we build.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Jain, Abhinandan(Cognitive data scientist)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Pattie Maes.

• Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129278

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/129278