Non-Contact Measurement of Empathy Based on Micro-Movement Synchronization

Tracking consumer empathy is one of the biggest challenges for advertisers. Although numerous studies have shown that consumers’ empathy affects purchasing, there are few quantitative and unobtrusive methods for assessing whether the viewer is sharing congruent emotions with the advertisement. This study suggested a non-contact method for measuring empathy by evaluating the synchronization of micro-movements between consumers and people within the media. Thirty participants viewed 24 advertisements classified as either empathy or non-empathy advertisements. For each viewing, we recorded the facial data and subjective empathy scores. We recorded the facial micro-movements, which reflect the ballistocardiography (BCG) motion, through the carotid artery remotely using a camera without any sensory attachment to the participant. Synchronization in cardiovascular measures (e.g., heart rate) is known to indicate higher levels of empathy. We found that through cross-entropy analysis, the more similar the micro-movements between the participant and the person in the advertisement, the higher the participant’s empathy scores for the advertisement. The study suggests that non-contact BCG methods can be utilized in cases where sensor attachment is ineffective (e.g., measuring empathy between the viewer and the media content) and can be a complementary method to subjective empathy scales.

Movement, Synchronization, and Partnering in Dance

In a neuroimaging study of tango dancers, the authors attempted to address two fundamental issues about dance: movement patterning (i.e., navigation of the legs in space) and synchronization of movement to the beat of music. The results of the study revealed the importance of the posterior parietal cortex to spatial navigation of movement and the cerebellum to synchronization to the beat. In a later two-person study of leading and following in dance, the author found that leaders accentuate motor processes, while followers accentuate sensory processes in their partnership. Dance is an interesting marriage of movement patterning, timing, and joint action.

Emotional, cognitive, and motor development in youth orchestras

Does being part of an orchestra from an early age have an impact on cognitive and emotional capacities? Researchers from the University of Geneva (Unige), Switzerland, the University of Genoa (Unige-IT), and the Institute of Research and Coordination Acoustic/Music (IRCAM) in Paris investigated this question in the context of the Demos orchestras organized by the Philharmonie de Paris-Cité. This two-year study evaluated the development and evolution of the cognitive, emotional, and motor skills of 255 children engaged in two Demos orchestras, aged 7 to 13 years living in education priority zones (ZEPs) in France. The results showed that after two years of playing music as part of a group, the working memory, cognitive flexibility, and emotion understanding skills of the children improved at a higher rate than the published measurements on standard tests. Important improvements were also shown in movement synchronization.

Language and Movement Synchronization in Dyadic Psychotherapeutic Interaction – A Qualitative Review and a Proposal for a Classification

In individual psychotherapy verbal communication and movement synchronization are closely interrelated. The microanalysis of timing, rhythm and gestalt of movement has established dynamic movement coordination as a systemic property of the dyadic interaction. Movement synchronization supports and enhances the unfolding of linguistic meaning. In order to substantiate the importance of the concept of synchrony for adult psychotherapy we review evidence from developmental psychology and discuss approaches to measure synchrony with particular reference to the naturalistic setting of dyadic psychotherapy. As the concept of synchrony is still ambiguous, and the respective interactional phenomena are ephemeral and fluid, in the current paper we suggest a set of five criteria for the description of synchronization in general terms and eight additional criteria which specifically enable the description of phenomena of movement synchronization. The five general dimensions are: (1) context, (2) modality, (3) resources, (4) entrainment, and (5) time-lag. The eight categories for the description of movement synchrony are: (1) spatial direction, (2) amplitude, (3) sinuosity, (4) duration, (5) event structure, (6) phase, (7) frequency, and (8) content. To understand the process of participatory sense-making and the emergence of meaning in psychotherapy, synchrony research has to cope with the multimodality of the embodied interaction. This requires an integrated perspective of movement and language. A system for the classification of synchrony phenomena may contribute to the linking of variations and patterns of movement with language and linguistic utterances.

Reducing Movement Synchronization to Increase Interest Improves Interpersonal Liking

Synchronization has been identified as a key aspect of achieving mutual goals and enhancing social bonding. While synchronization could be maximized by increasing the predictability of an interaction, such predictability is in tension with individuals’ level of interest, which is tied to the interaction’s complexity and novelty. In this study, we tested the interplay between synchronization and interest. We asked 104 female dyads to play the Mirror Game, in which they were instructed to move their hands as coordinately as possible, and then report how much they liked each other. Utilizing information theory and video processing tools, we found that a combination of movement synchronization and complexity explained liking almost two times better than movement synchronization alone. Moreover, we found that people initiated novel and challenging interactions, even though they paid a price – being less synchronized. Examining the interactions’ dynamics, we found that people who liked each other moved in a more synchronized, complex, and novel manner during most of the interaction. This suggests that in addition to synchronization, maintaining interest may be critical for positive social bonding. Thus, we propose a new framework in which balancing synchronization and interest, rather than merely maximizing synchronization, optimizes the interaction quality.

The neuroscience of groove: neural mechanisms marrying music and movement

Music has a long history of being associated with movement synchronization such as foot-tapping or dance. These behaviours are easier with some music compared to others, and the reasons for this are not well understood. Groove is a quality of music that compels synchronous movement in the listener, and certain acoustic and musical features have been identified that contribute to a sense of groove.Neurons have been found to entrain to the beat of music. Combining these two ideas, it is reasonable to predict that neural populations involved in movement (i.e. premotor areas) would entrain more to high-groove than to low-groove music. This dissertation explores some of the psychological, musical and acoustic aspects of music that contribute to neural entrainment in premotor areas of the brain. Study 1 investigates the effects of feelings of groove on pre-motor entrainment, using stimuli that have been rated on extent of groove in a previous study. Study 2 investigates the musical feature of syncopation – which has previously been found to be associated with sense of groove – on extent of premotor entrainment and behavioural synchronization ability. Study 3 investigates the effects of acoustic features that have been found to be related to groove and movement synchronization such as event density and percussiveness. The pattern of results across all studies suggests that the complexity of the rhythms in the stimulus determines the extent of beat entrainment. Feelings of groove, however, are better characterized by “beat complexity”, which depends on a) the extent to which the listener perceives the beat, and b) the extent to which other rhythmic elements of the music compete with the beat. A network of brain areas integral to the perception of groove is proposed, where activation of premotor areas enables music to drive motor output.

The neuroscience of groove: neural mechanisms marrying music and movement

Music has a long history of being associated with movement synchronization such as foot-tapping or dance. These behaviours are easier with some music compared to others, and the reasons for this are not well understood. Groove is a quality of music that compels synchronous movement in the listener, and certain acoustic and musical features have been identified that contribute to a sense of groove.Neurons have been found to entrain to the beat of music. Combining these two ideas, it is reasonable to predict that neural populations involved in movement (i.e. premotor areas) would entrain more to high-groove than to low-groove music. This dissertation explores some of the psychological, musical and acoustic aspects of music that contribute to neural entrainment in premotor areas of the brain. Study 1 investigates the effects of feelings of groove on pre-motor entrainment, using stimuli that have been rated on extent of groove in a previous study. Study 2 investigates the musical feature of syncopation – which has previously been found to be associated with sense of groove – on extent of premotor entrainment and behavioural synchronization ability. Study 3 investigates the effects of acoustic features that have been found to be related to groove and movement synchronization such as event density and percussiveness. The pattern of results across all studies suggests that the complexity of the rhythms in the stimulus determines the extent of beat entrainment. Feelings of groove, however, are better characterized by “beat complexity”, which depends on a) the extent to which the listener perceives the beat, and b) the extent to which other rhythmic elements of the music compete with the beat. A network of brain areas integral to the perception of groove is proposed, where activation of premotor areas enables music to drive motor output.

Simulation of Cosmonaut Rescue Using Virtual Reality

This paper presents original solutions for creation of training complex learning cosmonauts to control a space jet pack on purpose self-rescue when emergency happens. An approach is proposed in which training is carried out in a virtual environment using virtual reality gloves and headset. The idea is that control of virtual space jet pack model is performed by interaction of virtual hands, copying movements of cosmonaut's hands, with three-dimensional model of jet pack's control panel. To implement the training complex, methods and approaches were developed for movement synchronization simulation of virtual and real hands, as well as simulation of jet pack's control panel and thrusters. Approbation of proposed methods and approaches was carried out as part of our virtual environment system VirSim developed at the SRISA RAS. Results obtained in the paper can be used to create training complex for learning cosmonauts to rescue when they accidentally separate from the International Space Station.

Humanoid Dancer Robot Movement Synchronization System with Zigbee

This research proposes a wireless communication between two dancer robots using zigbee to overcome the differences in movement between the robots in order to dance in harmony. The robotic music processor uses Audio Analyzer V2.0 which functions to get 7 frequency values for the music being played. The frequency will be processed by Arduino to determine the condition of the music on and off which will be sent to each robot via the XBee S2C module using the Zigbee method, namely with 1 master and 2 routers. The result is that the music processing system becomes more robust because it uses the Zigbee method. By using the Zigbee method, robot 1 and robot 2 can also communicate with each other because with this method, fellow routers can exchange data. The robot produced by this study can already distinguish the conditions when music is playing or muted, and between robot 1 and robot 2 can communicate with each other. Communication between robots functions so that when one of the robots is late in getting data, the other robots will wait until the late robot completes its movements so that robot 1 and robot 2 are back in sync.