Should spokes-characters be dynamic? The interaction effects of spokes-character dynamism and brand personality on consumers’ evaluation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effects of spokes-character dynamism (high vs low) and brand personality (sincere vs competent) on consumers’ evaluation and the mediating role of processing fluency. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. Study 1 establishes the interaction effect between evoked spokes-character dynamism and brand personality on brand trust and examines the mediating role of processing fluency. By introducing a control group and using purchase intention as the dependent variable, Study 2 further extends the results of Study 1. Findings The results of Studies 1 and 2 show that for sincere brands, spokes-characters with high dynamic imagery contribute to significantly higher consumer evaluation than the control group and the group of spokes-characters with low dynamic imagery. However, for competent brands, spokes-characters with low dynamic imagery contribute to significantly higher consumer evaluation than the control group and the group of spokes-characters with high dynamic imagery. In addition, processing fluency mediates the interaction effect between evoked spokes-character dynamism and brand personality on consumers’ evaluation. Research limitations/implications The studies considered only one method, “frozen motion,” to evoke perceived movement. Further studies using other methods are needed to allow for generalization. Practical implications The discerning use of dynamic imagery in spokes-character design involving advertisements may aid marketers in maximizing spokes-characters’ effect on consumers’ evaluation. Originality/value The perceived movement of spokes-characters is integrated into the cognition of brand personality. Marketers should take into account how the match between spokes-character dynamism and brand personality may influence consumers’ evaluation of the brand.

Emergent Languages from Pretrained Embeddings Characterize Latent Concepts in Dynamic Imagery

Recent unsupervised learning approaches have explored the feasibility of semantic analysis and interpretation of imagery using Emergent Language (EL) models. As EL requires some form of numerical embedding as input, it remains unclear which type is required in order for the EL to properly capture key semantic concepts associated with a given domain. In this paper, we compare unsupervised and supervised approaches for generating embeddings across two experiments. In Experiment 1, data are produced using a single-agent simulator. In each episode, a goal-driven agent attempts to accomplish a number of tasks in a synthetic cityscape environment which includes houses, banks, theaters and restaurants. In Experiment 2, a comparatively smaller dataset is produced where one or more objects demonstrate various types of physical motion in a 3D simulator environment. We investigate whether EL models generated from embeddings of raw pixel data produce expressions that capture key latent concepts (i.e. an agent’s motivations or physical motion types) in each environment. Our initial experiments show that the supervised learning approaches yield embeddings and EL descriptions that capture meaningful concepts from raw pixel inputs. Alternatively, embeddings from an unsupervised learning approach result in greater ambiguity with respect to latent concepts.

Neurological Assessment Using a Physical-Virtual Patient (PVP)

Background. Simulation has revolutionized teaching and learning. However, traditional manikins are limited in their ability to exhibit emotions, movements, and interactive eye gaze. As a result, students struggle with immersion and may be unable to authentically relate to the patient. Intervention. We developed a new type of patient simulator called the Physical-Virtual Patients (PVP) which combines the physicality of manikins with the richness of dynamic visuals. The PVP uses spatial Augmented Reality to rear project dynamic imagery (e.g., facial expressions, ptosis, pupil reactions) on a semi-transparent physical shell. The shell occupies space and matches the dimensions of a human head. Methods. We compared two groups of third semester nursing students (N=59) from a baccalaureate program using a between-participant design, one group interacting with a traditional high-fidelity manikin versus a more realistic PVP head. The learners had to perform a neurological assessment. We measured authenticity, urgency, and learning. Results. Learners had a more realistic encounter with the PVP patient (p=0.046), they were more engaged with the PVP condition compared to the manikin in terms of authenticity of encounter and cognitive strategies. The PVP provoked a higher sense of urgency (p=0.002). There was increased learning for the PVP group compared to the manikin group on the pre and post-simulation scores (p=0.027). Conclusion. The realism of the visuals in the PVP increases authenticity and engagement which results in a greater sense of urgency and overall learning.

Sonifyd: A Graphical Approach for Sound Synthesis and Synesthetic Visual Expression

This paper describes Sonifyd, a sonification driven multimedia and audiovisual environment based on color-sound conversion for real-time manipulation. Sonifyd scans graphics horizontally or vertically from a scan line, generates sound and determines timbre according to its own additive synthesis based color-to-sound mapping. Color and sound relationships are fixed as default, but they can be organic for more tonal flexibility. Within this ecosystem, flexible timbre changes will be discovered by Sonifyd. The scan line is invisible, but Sonifyd provides another display that represents the scanning process in the form of dynamic imagery representation. The primary goal of this project is to be a functioning tool for a new kind of visual music, graphic sonification research and to further provide a synesthetic metaphor for audiences/users in the context of an art installation and audiovisual performance. The later section is a discussion about limitations that I have encountered: using an additive synthesis and frequency modulation technique with the line scanning method. In addition, it discusses potential possibilities for the future direction of development in relation to graphic expression and sound design context.

Bridges Among Visualization, Aesthetics, and Technology

This chapter presents the motivation, background, implementation, and comparison of two interactive projects created by the same artist—Living Mandala: The Cosmic of Being1 and Through the Aleph: A Glimpse of the World in Real Time2. Living Mandala is an interactive graphics installation that combines real-time data, multi-cultural mandalas, scientific imagery, and cosmological and mythological symbols; this living graphical system is an exploration into uncharted territories of the human soul sculpted by our present time. Through the Aleph is a net art project offering an unprecedented visual and interactive experience where many places on Earth and in space can be seen simultaneously in an instant; with an unexpected approach to surveillance cameras and global networks, this meditative web project draws the connections between individuals and the global environment, Earth and outer space, eternity and time, and art and science. Built in an open source environment using live data and complex graphics, both projects visualize microcosm (the diversity of human civilizations and perceptions of life) and macrocosm (the unity of humanity and the ever-changing universe). Although one work is responsive to the physical environment while another to the virtual space, each project merges multiple layers of dynamic imagery and symbols related to cultural heritage, cosmology, science, technology, and nature in a globalized society through time and space in the present moment. 3 In spite of the differences in visual expressions and media platforms between the two projects, the quintessential force bridging visualization, aesthetics, and technology emerges from the artist's journey of being a humble student of Life.

Does the Motor System Facilitate Spatial Imagery?

Recent studies have ascertained a link between the motor system and imagery in children. A motor effect on imagery is demonstrated by the influence of stimuli-related movement constraints (i. e., constraints defined by the musculoskeletal system) on mental rotation, or by interference effects due to participants’ own body movements or body postures. This link is usually seen as qualitatively different or stronger in children as opposed to adults. In the present research, we put this interpretation to further scrutiny using a new paradigm: In a motor condition we asked our participants (kindergartners and third-graders) to manually rotate a circular board with a covered picture on it. This condition was compared with a perceptual condition where the board was rotated by an experimenter. Additionally, in a pure imagery condition, children were instructed to merely imagine the rotation of the board. The children’s task was to mark the presumed end position of a salient detail of the respective picture. The children’s performance was clearly the worst in the pure imagery condition. However, contrary to what embodiment theories would suggest, there was no difference in participants’ performance between the active rotation (i. e., motor) and the passive rotation (i. e., perception) condition. Control experiments revealed that this was also the case when, in the perception condition, gaze shifting was controlled for and when the board was rotated mechanically rather than by the experimenter. Our findings indicate that young children depend heavily on external support when imagining physical events. Furthermore, they indicate that motor-assisted imagery is not generally superior to perceptually driven dynamic imagery.

Medial Prefrontal–Medial Temporal Theta Phase Coupling in Dynamic Spatial Imagery

Hippocampal–medial prefrontal interactions are thought to play a crucial role in mental simulation. Notably, the frontal midline/medial pFC (mPFC) theta rhythm in humans has been linked to introspective thought and working memory. In parallel, theta rhythms have been proposed to coordinate processing in the medial temporal cortex, retrosplenial cortex (RSc), and parietal cortex during the movement of viewpoint in imagery, extending their association with physical movement in rodent models. Here, we used noninvasive whole-head MEG to investigate theta oscillatory power and phase-locking during the 18-sec postencoding delay period of a spatial working memory task, in which participants imagined previously learned object sequences either on a blank background (object maintenance), from a first-person viewpoint in a scene (static imagery), or moving along a path past the objects (dynamic imagery). We found increases in 4- to 7-Hz theta power in mPFC when comparing the delay period with a preencoding baseline. We then examined whether the mPFC theta rhythm was phase-coupled with ongoing theta oscillations elsewhere in the brain. The same mPFC region showed significantly higher theta phase coupling with the posterior medial temporal lobe/RSc for dynamic imagery versus either object maintenance or static imagery. mPFC theta phase coupling was not observed with any other brain region. These results implicate oscillatory coupling between mPFC and medial temporal lobe/RSc theta rhythms in the dynamic mental exploration of imagined scenes.

The static imagery of vocation

SummaryThis article deals with the question whether it is a problem to use a static imagery of vocation. Four relatively recent systematic theological monographs by Volf, Badcock, Schuurman and Hahnenberg on the topic of vocation criticize the idea that God in heaven has a blueprint for every individual life. This static imagery is assumed to be too uniform, too passive and too conservative to suit the modern way of life. It will be shown, however, that these consequences do not necessarily follow. A static imagery of vocation may be applied in a pluralist, active, transformative world; and the proposed alternative of a dynamic imagery of gifts may lead to uniform, passive and conservative living. Therefore, theologians should distinguish between a picture and how it is used. In the final paragraph it will be argued that the imagery of vocation does not need to be salvaged from its static nature, since, the more static features our concept of vocation has, the more dynamic its use may be.