Soma}News – July/August

Soma-related emotion news. Connections to tech, memory, smell, touch, fashion, stand-up comedy and more…

I spent my July in Berlin at the School of Machines, Making and Make-believe studying creative code / art technology. There were 13 of us and it was a hectic month of immersion learning – both of programming and cultural. I’d love to better summarise that time tangibly here in some way. Soma News-wise, below are some snippets I found of interest. Enjoy!

Today we @SchoolOfMaaa students did our first hands-on projection mapping. Thanks @Irina_Spicaka and @k_rijnieks! pic.twitter.com/C7jsQPejxg

— Soma Holiday (@somahol) July 4, 2014

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind – for real?

• Emotional association of memories changed by researchers

The ghost in the machine: an argument for measuring the unmeasurable.

• Researchers advocate for more scientific research on consciousness (Paper here)

Fashion, Wearables

• Emotion-Sensing Fashion Fuses Consumers and Business
• Could “Force Illusions” Help Wearables Catch On?

Laughter, Love, Lust, Happiness, Anger…

• Laughter is the best medicine? The emotional appeal of stand-up comedy
• Eye movements reveal difference between love and lust
• Danish DNA could be key to happiness
• The universal ‘anger face’: Each element makes you look physically stronger and more formidable
• Study cracks how brain processes emotions

Technology

• In our digital world, are young people losing the ability to read emotions
• Does your computer know how you’re feeling?
• Virtual reality the next drug?
• Feeling bad at work can be a good thing (and vice versa)

Smell

• In asthma, it’s not just what you smell, but what you think you smell
• New research links bad diet to loss of smell
• Learning the smell of fear: Mothers teach babies their own fears via odor, animal study shows

Language, Meaning, Text

• Philosopher uses game theory to understand how words, actions acquire meaning
• FingerReader Is a 3D-Printed Device That Reads Text Aloud to the Blind

Pain

• Teaching the brain to reduce pain
• Study cracks how brain processes emotions

The Bigger Picture

• Should you should talk to strangers? Doing so increases positive experience, study shows
• Facial features are the key to first impressions
• Marching in unison may increase risk of use of excessive force in policing protests

Health + Design

• Menu secrets that can make you slim by design
• Physical work environment in hospitals affects nurses’ job satisfaction
• Daylight is best medicine for nurses

 

via Mashable, ScienceDaily, DigitalHealthPost, TechnologyReview, Vice