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Connecting citizens with urban environments through an augmented reality pervasive game
(Springer, 2022-10-29) Sánchez de Francisco, Mónica; Díaz, Paloma; Onorati, Teresa; Aedo Cuevas, Ignacio; Comunidad de Madrid; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
The concept of Playable City situates games in public spaces to create connections between the citizens and the urban environment. To this end, Augmented Reality (AR) and pervasive technologies can provide additional information about urban objects or places and support innovative and engaging experiences to increase the user interest in the surrounding area. Understanding how these experiences affect the user interest is crucial for reaching a well-established connection between the people and the spaces around them. Our contribution is a preliminary framework to evaluate how being engaged in a playful activity improves interest and awareness in a specific urban area. The framework is based on the situated motivational affordances to establish a correlation among the users' motivations, the situation, and the employed technological artifact. We use an AR pervasive game to evaluate a playful historical experience as a technology probe. The results suggest that while playing the game, the citizens started to show a growing interest in the historical facts around them. At the same time, they began to raise concerns about other issues like sustainability, socio-environmental, and socioeconomic development.
Auditory-Induced Emotion Mediates Perceptual Categorization of Everyday Sounds
(Frontiers Media, 2016-10-13) Bergman, Penny; Västfjäll, Daniel; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Asutay, Erkin; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
Research has shown that emotion categorization plays an important role in perception and categorization in the visual domain. In the present paper, we investigated the role of auditory-induced emotions for auditory perception. We further investigated whether the emotional responses mediate other perceptual judgments of sounds. In an experiment, participants either rated general dissimilarities between sounds or dissimilarities of specific aspects of sounds. The results showed that the general perceptual salience map could be explained by both the emotional responses to, and perceptual aspects of, the sounds. Importantly, the perceptual aspects were mediated by emotional responses. Together these results show that emotions are an integral part of auditory perception that is used as the intuitive basis for categorizing everyday sounds.
Generic HRTFs May be Good Enough in Virtual Reality. Improving Source Localization through Cross-Modal Plasticity
(Frontiers Media, 2018-02-02) Berger, Christopher C.; González Franco, Mar; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Florencio, Dinei; Zhang, Zhengyou; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
Auditory spatial localization in humans is performed using a combination of interaural time differences, interaural level differences, as well as spectral cues provided by the geometry of the ear. To render spatialized sounds within a virtual reality (VR) headset, either individualized or generic Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) are usually employed. The former require arduous calibrations, but enable accurate auditory source localization, which may lead to a heightened sense of presence within VR. The latter obviate the need for individualized calibrations, but result in less accurate auditory source localization. Previous research on auditory source localization in the real world suggests that our representation of acoustic space is highly plastic. In light of these findings, we investigated whether auditory source localization could be improved for users of generic HRTFs via cross-modal learning. The results show that pairing a dynamic auditory stimulus, with a spatio-temporally aligned visual counterpart, enabled users of generic HRTFs to improve subsequent auditory source localization. Exposure to the auditory stimulus alone or to asynchronous audiovisual stimuli did not improve auditory source localization. These findings have important implications for human perception as well as the development of VR systems as they indicate that generic HRTFs may be enough to enable good auditory source localization in VR.
Listening to a conversation with aggressive content expands the interpersonal space
(2018-03-28) Vagnoni, Eleonora; Lewis, Jessica; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Cardini, Flavia; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
The distance individuals maintain between themselves and others can be defined as 'interpersonal space'. This distance can be modulated both by situational factors and individual characteristics. Here we investigated the influence that the interpretation of other people interaction, in which one is not directly involved, may have on a person's interpersonal space. In the current study we measured, for the first time, whether the size of interpersonal space changes after listening to other people conversations with neutral or aggressive content. The results showed that the interpersonal space expands after listening to a conversation with aggressive content relative to a conversation with a neutral content. This finding suggests that participants tend to distance themselves from an aggressive confrontation even if they are not involved in it. These results are in line with the view of the interpersonal space as a safety zone surrounding one's body.
Pain Level and Pain-Related Behaviour Classification Using GRU-Based Sparsely-Connected RNNs
(IEEE, 2023-03-28) Dehshibi, Mohammad Mahdi; Olugbade, Temitayo; Díaz de María, Fernando; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana
There is a growing body of studies on applying deep learning to biometrics analysis. Certain circumstances, however, could impair the objective measures and accuracy of the proposed biometric data analysis methods. For instance, people with chronic pain (CP) unconsciously adapt specific body movements to protect themselves from injury or additional pain. Because there is no dedicated benchmark database to analyse this correlation, we considered one of the specific circumstances that potentially influence a person's biometrics during daily activities in this study and classified pain level and pain-related behaviour in the EmoPain database. To achieve this, we proposed a sparsely-connected recurrent neural networks (s-RNNs) ensemble with the gated recurrent unit (GRU) that incorporates multiple autoencoders using a shared training framework. This architecture is fed by multidimensional data collected from inertial measurement unit (IMU) and surface electromyography (sEMG) sensors. Furthermore, to compensate for variations in the temporal dimension that may not be perfectly represented in the latent space of s-RNNs, we fused hand-crafted features derived from information-theoretic approaches with represented features in the shared hidden state. We conducted several experiments which indicate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in classifying both pain level and pain-related behaviour.
Bodily sensory inputs and anomalous bodily experiences in complex regional pain syndrome: evaluation of the potential effects of sound feedback
(Frontiers, 2017-07) Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Cohen, Helen; Bianchi-Berthouze, Nadia; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
Neuroscientific studies have shown that human's mental body representations are not fixed but are constantly updated through sensory feedback, including sound feedback. This suggests potential new therapeutic sensory approaches for patients experiencing body-perception disturbances (BPD). BPD can occur in association with chronic pain, for example in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). BPD often impacts on emotional, social, and motor functioning. Here we present the results from a proof-of-principle pilot study investigating the potential value of using sound feedback for altering BPD and its related emotional state and motor behavior in those with CRPS. We build on previous findings that real-time alteration of the sounds produced by walking can alter healthy people's perception of their own body size, while also resulting in more active gait patterns and a more positive emotional state. In the present study we quantified the emotional state, BPD, pain levels and gait of twelve people with CRPS Type 1, who were exposed to real-time alteration of their walking sounds. Results confirm previous reports of the complexity of the BPD linked to CRPS, as participants could be classified into four BPD subgroups according to how they mentally visualize their body. Further, results suggest that sound feedback may affect the perceived size of the CRPS affected limb and the pain experienced, but that the effects may differ according to the type of BPD. Sound feedback affected CRPS descriptors and other bodily feelings and emotions including feelings of emotional dominance, limb detachment, position awareness, attention and negative feelings toward the limb. Gait also varied with sound feedback, affecting the foot contact time with the ground in a way consistent with experienced changes in body weight. Although, findings from this small pilot study should be interpreted with caution, they suggest potential applications for regenerating BDP and its related bodily feelings in a clinical setting for patients with chronic pain and BPD.
Contingent sounds change the mental representation of one's finger length
(Springer Nature, 2017-07-18) Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Vakali, Maria; Fairhurst, Merle T.; Mandrigin, Alisa; Bianchi-Berthouze, Nadia; Deroy, Ophelia; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
Mental body-representations are highly plastic and can be modified after brief exposure to unexpected sensory feedback. While the role of vision, touch and proprioception in shaping body-representations has been highlighted by many studies, the auditory influences on mental body-representations remain poorly understood. Changes in body-representations by the manipulation of natural sounds produced when one's body impacts on surfaces have recently been evidenced. But will these changes also occur with non-naturalistic sounds, which provide no information about the impact produced by or on the body? Drawing on the well-documented capacity of dynamic changes in pitch to elicit impressions of motion along the vertical plane and of changes in object size, we asked participants to pull on their right index fingertip with their left hand while they were presented with brief sounds of rising, falling or constant pitches, and in the absence of visual information of their hands. Results show an "auditory Pinocchio" effect, with participants feeling and estimating their finger to be longer after the rising pitch condition. These results provide the first evidence that sounds that are not indicative of veridical movement, such as non-naturalistic sounds, can induce a Pinocchio-like change in body-representation when arbitrarily paired with a bodily action.
Is this my foot? Experimentally induced disownership in individuals with body integrity dysphoria
(Elsevier, 2022-11-10) Weijs, Marieke L.; Ho, Jasmine T.; Roel Lesur, Marte Ernesto; Lenggenhager, Bigna
In body integrity dysphoria (BID), otherwise healthy individuals feel like a part of their physical body does not belong to them despite normal sensorimotor functioning. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggested a weakened integration of the affected body part into higher-order multisensory cortical body networks. Here, we used a multisensory stimulation paradigm in mixed reality to modulate and investigate multisensory processing underlying body (dis)ownership in individuals with BID of the lower limb. In 20 participants with BID, delay perception and body ownership were measured after introducing delays between the visual and tactile information of viewed stroking applied to affected and unaffected body parts. Unlike predicted, delay perception did not differ between the two body parts. However, specifically for the affected limb, ownership was lower and more strongly modulated by delay. These findings might be following the idea of a stronger dependency on online bottom up sensory signals in BID.
Different armpits under my new nose: Olfactory sex but not gender affects implicit measures of embodiment
(Elservier, 2022-01-13) Roel Lesur, Marte Ernesto; Stussi, Yoann; Bertrand, Philippe; Delplanque, Sylvain; Lenggenhager, Bigna
Conflicting multisensory signals may alter embodiment to produce self-identification with a foreign body, but the role of olfaction in this process has been overlooked. We studied in healthy participants how sex (male and female sweat odors) and gender (male and female cosmetic scents) olfactory stimuli contribute to embodiment. Participants saw, on a head mounted display, the first-person perspective of a sex mismatching person. Synchronous visuotactile stimulation was applied to enhance illusory embodiment. Simultaneously, they smelled either sex- or gender- congruent or incongruent stimuli. We assessed implicit (skin conductance responses to visual threats) and explicit (questionnaire) measures of embodiment. Stronger responses to threat were found when participants smelled the sex-congruent compared to the sex-incongruent odor, while no such differences were found for the cosmetic scents. According to the questionnaire, embodiment did not differ between conditions. Post-experimental assessment of the presented cues, suggest that while both sweat odors were considered generally male, cosmetic scents were not. The presented scents were generally not associated with the embodied body. Our results suggest that sex-related body odors influence implicit but not explicit aspects of embodiment and are in line with unique characteristics of olfaction in other aspects of cognition.
Engaging educators in the ideation of scenarios for cross-reality game-based learning experiences
(Springer, 2022-08-31) Zarraonandia Ayo, Telmo Agustín; Díaz, Paloma; Aedo Cuevas, Ignacio; Bellucci, Andrea; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Cross-reality media technology creates alternate reality experiences in which the physical and the virtual world are interconnected and influence each other through a network of sensors and actuators. Despite technological advances, the landscape of cross-reality technology as an enabler of alternate reality educational experiences has not been explored yet. The technical expertise required to set up and program such mixed environments is too high to engage the problem owners (i.e. educational experts) in the design process and, hence, user-driven innovation remains challenging. In this paper we explore the co-creation of cross-reality experiences for educational games. We created a no-programming toolkit that provides a visual language and interface abstractions to quickly build prototypes of cross-reality interactions. The toolkit supports experience prototyping and allows designers to coproduce, with educational experts, meaningful scenarios while they create, try out and reconfigure their prototypes. We report on a workshop with 36 educators where the toolkit was used to ideate cross-reality games for education. We discuss use cases of game-based learning applications developed by the participants that follow different pedagogical strategies and combine different physical and virtual spaces and times. We outline implications for the design of cross-reality interactions in educational settings that trigger further research and technological developments.
Arousing the sound: A field study on the emotional impact on children of arousing sound design and 3D audio spatialization in an audio story
(Frontiers Media, 2020-05-06) Cuadrado, Francisco; Lopez Cobo, Isabel; Mateos Blanco, Tania; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (España)
Sound from media increases the immersion of the audience in the story, adding credibilityto the narration but also generating emotions in the spectator. A study on children aged 9-13 years (N = 253), using an audio story, investigated the emotional impact of arousalvs. neutral treatment of sound and 3D vs. stereo mix spatialization. The emotional impactwas measured combining three different measures: physiological (Electrodermal activity),self-report (pre-post exposition), and richness of mentalimages elicited by the story(using Think-aloud technique after exposition). Results showed higher emotional impactof the arousal and 3D audio conditions with different patterns according to the age of theparticipants and distinctive types of interaction when both variables were combined.
Designing and implementing interactive and realistic augmented reality experiences
(Springer, 2019-01-01) Montero Montes, Álvaro; Zarraonandia Ayo, Telmo Agustín; Díaz, Paloma; Aedo Cuevas, Ignacio; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
In this paper, we propose an approach for supporting the design and implementation of interactive and realistic Augmented Reality (AR). Despite the advances in AR technology, most software applications still fail to support AR experiences where virtual objects appear as merged into the real setting. To alleviate this situation, we propose to combine the use of model-based AR techniques with the advantages of current game engines to develop AR scenes in which the virtual objects collide, are occluded, project shadows and, in general, are integrated into the augmented environment more realistically. To evaluate the feasibility of the proposed approach, we extended an existing game platform named GREP to enhance it with AR capacities. The realism of the AR experiences produced with the software was assessed in an event in which more than 100 people played two AR games simultaneously.
The Perceived Match Between Observed and Own Bodies, but Not Its Accuracy, Is Influenced by Movement Dynamics and Clothing Cues
(Frontiers Media, 2021-07-28) De Coster, Lize; Sánchez Herrero, Pablo; Moreno López, Jorge; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; European Commission; Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (España); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Own-perceived body matching - the ability to match one's own body with an observed body - is a difficult task for both general and clinical populations. Thus far, however, own-perceived body matching has been investigated in situations that are incongruent with how we are used to experience and perceive our body in daily life. In the current study, we aimed to examine own-perceived body matching in a context that more closely resembles real life. More specifically, we investigated the effects of body movement dynamics and clothing cues on own-perceived body matching. We asked participants to match their own body with an externally perceived body that was a 3D-generated avatar based on participants' real bodies, fitted with a computer-generated dress. This perceived body was (1) either static (non-walking avatar) or dynamic (walking avatar), (2) either bigger, smaller, or the same size as participants' own body size, and (3) fitted with a dress with a size either bigger, smaller, or the same as participants' own dress size. Our results suggest that movement dynamics cues did not improve the accuracy of own-perceived body matching, but that confidence about dress fit was higher for dynamic avatars, and that the difference between dynamic and static avatars was dependent on participants' self-esteem. Furthermore, when participants were asked to rate the observed body in reference to how they wanted to represent themselves to others, dynamic avatars were rated lower than static avatars for the biggest-sized bodies only, possibly reflecting the influence of movement cues on amplifying socio-cultural stereotypes. Finally, while smaller body/dress sizes were systematically rated higher than bigger body/dress sizes for several self-report items, the interplay between body and dress size played an important role in participants' self-report as well. Thus, while our research suggests that movement and garment dynamics, allowing for realistic, concrete situations that are reminiscent of daily life, influence own-body perception, these cues did not lead to an improvement in accuracy. These findings provide important insights for research exploring (own-) body perception and bodily self-awareness, with practical (e.g., development of online avatars) and clinical (e.g., anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder) implications.
Exploring multisensory integration of non-naturalistic sounds on body perception in young females with eating disorders symptomatology: a study protocol
(Springer, 2023-02-27) Navas León, Sergio; Morales Márquez, Luis; Sanchez Martín, Milagrosa; Crucianelli, Laura; Bianchi-Berthouze, Nadia; Borda Más, Mercedes; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; European Commission; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España)
Bodily illusions can be used to investigate the experience of being in a body by manipulating the underlying processes of multisensory integration. Research suggests that people with eating disorders (EDs) may have impairments in visual, interoceptive, proprioceptive, and tactile bodily perception. Furthermore, people with EDs also show abnormalities in integrating multisensory visuo-tactile and visual-auditory signals related to the body, which may contribute to the development of body image disturbances. Visuo-auditory integration abnormalities have been observed also in people with subthreshold ED symptomatology. However, it remains unclear whether these impairments are specific to bodily signals or if they extend to any auditory signals.
Investigating psychological variables for technologies promoting physical activity
(SAGE Publishing, 2022-07-29) Rick, Patricia; Sanchez Martín, Milagrosa; Navas León, Sergio; Borda Más, Mercedes; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); European Commission; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España); Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España)
Background Many technological interventions designed to promote physical activity (PA) have limited efficacy and appear to lack important factors that could increase engagement. This may be due to a discrepancy between research conducted in this space, and software designers' and developers' use of this research to inform new digital applications. Objectives This study aimed to identify (1) what are the variables that act as barriers and facilitators to PA and (2) which PA variables are currently considered in the design of technologies promoting PA including psychological, physical, and personal/contextual ones which are critical in promoting PA. We emphasize psychological variables in this work because of their sparse and often simplistic integration in digital applications for PA. Methods We conducted two systematized reviews on PA variables, using PsycInfo and Association for Computing Machinery Digital Libraries for objectives 1 and 2. Results We identified 38 PA variables (mostly psychological ones) including barriers/facilitators in the literature. 17 of those variables were considered when developing digital applications for PA. Only few studies evaluate PA levels in relation to these variables. The same barriers are reported for all weight groups, though some barriers are stronger in people with obesity. Conclusions We identify PA variables and illustrate the lack of consideration of these in the design of PA technologies. Digital applications to promote PA may have limited efficacy if they do not address variables acting as facilitators or barriers to participation in PA, and that are important to people representing a range of body weight characteristics.
Body weight distortions in an auditory-driven body illusion in subclinical and clinical eating disorders
(Nature, 2022-11-21) Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Crucianelli, Laura; Zheng, Rebecca; Cheng, Chloe; Ley Flores, Judith Guadalupe; Borda Más, Mercedes; Bianchi-Berthouze, Nadia; Fotopoulou, Aikaterini
Previous studies suggest a stronger influence of visual signals on body image in individuals with eating disorders (EDs) than healthy controls; however, the influence of other exteroceptive sensory signals remains unclear. Here we used an illusion relying on auditory (exteroceptive) signals to manipulate body size/weight perceptions and investigated whether the mechanisms integrating sensory signals into body image are altered in subclinical and clinical EDs. Participants; footstep sounds were altered to seem produced by lighter or heavier bodies. Across two experiments, we tested healthy women assigned to three groups based on self-reported Symptomatology of EDs (SED), and women with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and used self-report, body-visualization, and behavioural (gait) measures. As with visual bodily illusions, we predicted stronger influence of auditory signals, leading to an enhanced body-weight illusion, in people with High-SED and AN. Unexpectedly, High-SED and AN participants displayed a gait typical of heavier bodies and a widest/heaviest visualized body in the light's; footsteps condition. In contrast, Low-SED participants showed these patterns in the 'heavy'; footsteps condition. Self-reports did not show group differences. The results of this pilot study suggest disturbances in the sensory integration mechanisms, rather than purely visually-driven body distortions, in subclinical/clinical EDs, opening opportunities for the development of novel diagnostic/therapeutic tools.
Modeling an ontology on accessible evacuation routes for emergencies
(Elsevier, 2014-11-15) Onorati, Teresa; Malizia, Alessio; Díaz, Paloma; Aedo Cuevas, Ignacio; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
All), developed in a previous work for managing knowledge about accessibility guidelines, emergency situations and communication technologies. In this paper, we introduce a semi-automatic technique for knowledge acquisition and modeling on accessible evacuation routes. We introduce a use case to show applications of the ontology and conclude with an evaluation involving several experts in evacuation procedures. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Comparing visual representations of collaborative map interfaces for immersive virtual environments
(IEEE, 2022-05-23) Santos Torres, Andrés Javier; Zarraonandia Ayo, Telmo Agustín; Díaz, Paloma; Aedo Cuevas, Ignacio; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España); Comunidad de Madrid
Virtual reality offers unique benefits to support remote collaboration. However, the way of representing the scenario and interacting within the team can influence the effectiveness of a collaborative task. In this context, this research explores the benefits and limitations of two different visual representations of the collaboration space, shared experience and shared workspace, in the specific case of map-based collaboration. Shared experience aims at reproducing face-to-face collaboration in a realistic way whilst shared workspace translates to the virtual world the functionalities of 2D collaborative spaces. The goal is to understand whether sophisticated interfaces with realistic avatars are necessary, or if simpler solutions might be enough to support efficient collaboration. We performed a user study ( n=24 , 12 pairs) through a collaborative task with two roles in a emergency crisis intervention scenario that typically uses map-based interfaces. Despite that a shared experience scenario might provide a better personal experience to the user in terms of realism, our study provides insights that suggest that a shared workspace could be a more effective way to represent the scenario and improve the collaboration.
Light on horizontal interactive surfaces: Input space for tabletop computing
(ACM, 2014-01-01) Bellucci, Andrea; Malizia, Alessio; Aedo Cuevas, Ignacio; Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
In the last 25 years we have witnessed the rise and growth of interactive tabletop research, both in academic and in industrial settings. The rising demand for the digital support of human activities motivated the need to bring computational power to table surfaces. In this article, we review the state of the art of tabletop computing, highlighting core aspects that frame the input space of interactive tabletops: (a) developments in hardware technologies that have caused the proliferation of interactive horizontal surfaces and (b) issues related to new classes of interaction modalities (multitouch, tangible, and touchless). A classification is presented that aims to give a detailed view of the current development of this research area and define opportunities and challenges for novel touch- and gesture-based interactions between the human and the surrounding computational environment. © 2014 ACM.
Eye movements and eating disorders: protocol for an exploratory experimental study examining the relationship in young-adult women with subclinical symptomatology
(Springer, 2022-04-08) Navas León, Sergio; Sanchez Martín, Milagrosa; Tajadura Jiménez, Ana; Coster, Lize de; Borda Más, Mercedes; Morales Márquez, Luis; European Commission; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España); Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España); Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Background: Recent research indicates that patients with anorexia (AN) show specific eye movement abnormalities such as shorter prosaccade latencies, more saccade inhibition errors, and increased rate of saccadic intrusions compared to participants without AN. However, it remains unknown whether these abnormal eye movement patterns, which may serve as potential biomarkers and endophenotypes for an early diagnosis and preventive clinical treatments, start to manifest also in people with subclinical eating disorders (ED) symptomatology. Therefore, we propose a protocol for an exploratory experimental study to investigate whether participants with subclinical ED symptomatology and control participants differ in their performance on several eye movement tasks. Methods: The sample will be recruited through convenience sampling. The Eating Disorder examination Questionnaire will be administered as a screening tool to split the sample into participants with subclinical ED symptomatology and control participants. A fixation task, prosaccade/antisaccade task, and memory-guided task will be administered to both groups. Additionally, we will measure anxiety and premorbid intelligence as confounding variables. Means comparison, exploratory Pearson's correlations and discriminant analysis will be performed. Discussion: This study will be the first to elucidate the presence of specific eye movement abnormalities in participants with subclinical ED symptomatology. The results may open opportunities for developing novel diagnostic tools/therapies being helpful to the EDs research community and allied fields.

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