The Laser Aura: a prosthesis for emotional expression

彬彬

1 Introduction

We propose a wearable device capable of translating bio-sensed

data into cartoon-like graphics projected in the physical surrounding.

Such ’expressive Laser Aura’ (LA) may serve for biofeedback

purposes; but more interestingly, as the display extends past

the wearer’s personal space it could complement non-verbal social

communication by giving others an instant cue about a person’s

real inner state. In this preliminary work, we explore a proof-ofprinciple

scenario: the possibility of enhancing empathic behavior

at the working place, where people have little or no time to explicitly

communicate a need for help, or on the contrary a need for

isolation. The subject is sitting at the office desk; the LA (presently

non-wearable) is projected on a nearby wall or on the floor. It takes

the shape of an halo that changes its behavior as a function of the

subject stress level. (The LA is also capable of displaying icons

and text messages in an autonomous way, or as prompted by the

user.) To measure stress, we first tried the commercial ’Mind Flex’

head-worn device (combining simple EEG and EMG data). This

proved to be too much dependent on test subjects, so we opted for

a simpler strategy consisting on measuring physical restlessness by

fitting the chair with an accelerometer. The custom laser projector

unit measures about 20x20x10cm. The LA graphic output is

inspired from cartoon conventions, paranormal folklore and synesthetic

considerations. When the subject is relaxed, the halo is nearly

circular, uniform and smooth; restlessness disturbs the aura by introducing

dynamic spikes. This mapping seems very intuitive - in

our preliminary experiment, casual observers never failed to recognize

the intended meaning at first glance. When projected on the

floor (either from the back of the chair or, in the future, using a laser

projection belt [Wilde et al. 2010]), the LA may represent the limits

of the personal space. By enlarging it, the subject can claim personal

space and signify a need for isolation; on the contrary, while

shrinking (or fading or changing its color) the aura may indicate the

user readiness to engage in closer social interaction.

2 Technologically mediated Self

This research extends previous works in our lab on the technologically

mediated self, such as the Haptic Radar [Cassinelli et al.

2006] or the Light Arrays [Wilde et al. 2010]. Externalizing subtle

psycho-physiological states using simple visual cues may enhance

human-human interaction in situations where natural communication

channels are temporarily recruited in other tasks, or defective.

For instance, a LA could inform others, at a glance, about

e-mail: Alvaro Cassinelli@ipc.i.u-tokyo.ac.jp

a person’s ‘availability status’ - as currently done in online social

software (teaser image, right). Also, by detecting, amplifying and

possibly pre-processing autonomic function data (heart rate, stress

level, etc) before projection, the device could help pathologically

introverted people to engage in social interaction, or perhaps facilitate

understanding of people on the autism spectrum. In a sense,

the LA works as the reverse of the emotional prosthetic system described

in [El Kaliouby et al. 2006], in which a wearable device

with a tiny camera reports to its user about other’s people emotional

states (such as boredom). The LA is in fact a semi-autonomous extension

of the body and mind, and as such can serve a variety of

purposes - including attracting social attention by enlarging or retracting

the aura as a peafowl tail, or even sending signals of distress.

Of course, prosthetics for emotional expression can be implemented

without laser display technology: visual, auditive, tactile,

thermal or even olfactory cues could be generated by embedded

devices on clothing (or by changing the shape or color of the clothing

themselves). Psycho-physiological information could even be

broadcast wirelessly and activate nearby cell-phones vibrators, or

be uploaded on a blog or twit - effectively extending the emotional

aura online. However, by recruiting the immediate surrounding for

display, the LA has expressive power spanning intimate, personal,

social and public spaces. Also, laser vector graphics offer a form of

display that is naturally minimalistic in comparison to conventional

projectors (too much information could clutter human-human communication

instead of enhancing it). In the short term, we plan to

develop the current prototype by replacing the accelerometer by a

skin conductance sensor to measure arousal levels. In the future

we plan to make the device wearable, as well as give it the ability

to represent more complex states such as emotions by using affective

computing methods and techniques (including cameras for face

tracking and software to analyze the user interaction with the GUI).

References

CASSINELLI, A., REYNOLDS, C., AND ISHIKAWA, M. 2006.

Augmenting spatial awareness with haptic radar. 2006 10th

IEEE Intl Symp. on Wearable Comp., 61–64.

EL KALIOUBY, R., TEETERS, A., AND PICARD, R. 2006. An

exploratory social-emotional prosthetic for autism spectrum disorders.

Wearable and Implantable Body Sensor Networks, 3–4.

WILDE, D., CASSINELLI, A., ZERROUG, A., HELMER, R., AND

ISHIKAWA, M. 2010. Light arrays: a system for extended engagement.

Proc. 8th Intl Conf. on Disabiliy, VR and Assoc. Tech.,

Chile, 157–164.

彬彬

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