Emotions are crucial ingredients of meaningful and memorable tourism experiences. Research methods borrowed from experimental psychology are prime candidates for quantifying emotions while experiences are unfolding. The present article empirically evaluates the methodological feasibility and usefulness of ambulatory recordings of skin conductance responses (SCRs) during a tourism experience. We recorded SCRs in participants while they experienced a roller-coaster ride with or without a virtual reality (VR) headset. Ride elements were identified that related to physical aspects (such as accelerations and braking), to events in the VR environment, and to the physical theming of the roller coaster. VR rides were evaluated more positively than normal rides. SCR time series were meaningfully related to the different ride elements. SCR signals did not significantly predict overall evaluations of the ride. We conclude that psychophysiological measurements are a new avenue for understanding how hospitality, tourism and leisure experiences dynamically develop over time.
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Europa, de Europese Unie en de democratie op het continent staan onder druk. Migratie, terrorisme, de sterke opkomst van populistisch-rechts en antiliberale democratieën, klimaatverandering en een snel veranderende wereldorde confronteren Europa met grote problemen en uitdagingen. Een zeker ondergangsdenken is zichtbaar in bepaalde maatschappelijke en politieke kringen, waarbij een spoedig einde van Europe als beschaving wordt verondersteld. Hoewel er evidente problemen bestaan voor en op het continent, en dat Europa spoedig duidelijkheid moet verschaffen over haar plaats in de mondiale betrekkingen, leert een blik op naoorlogse geschiedenis dat Europa het sinds 1945 over het algemeen uitstekend heeft gedaan. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martijn-lak-71793013/
Theme parks are looking into extending the life cycle of roller coasters by creating VR environments that are designed for and synchronised with the ride. Riding a coaster with a VR headset that immerses visitors into a virtual environment is therefore a rapidly emerging trend.In this project we compare how visitors experience a roller coaster ride with and without VR add-on.We recorded bodily indices of emotional engagement (skin conductance responses; SCRs) during roller coaster rides with and without Virtual Reality (VR) add-ons, alongside with self-reported evaluations of the two types of rides.Self-reported levels of presence are similar across VR and NVR rides, and VR rides are evaluated more positively. SCR time series correlate meaningfully with the different ride elements and can therefore be used to identify which parts of the ride are, or aren’t, emotionally engaging. SCRs do not significantly predict overall evaluations of the ride, however.Main collaborating partner: Europapark, Germany
The PhD research by Joris Weijdom studies the impact of collective embodied design techniques in collaborative mixed-reality environments (CMRE) in art- and engineering design practice and education. He aims to stimulate invention and innovation from an early stage of the collective design process.Joris combines theory and practice from the performing arts, human-computer interaction, and engineering to develop CMRE configurations, strategies for its creative implementation, and an embodied immersive learning pedagogy for students and professionals.This lecture was given at the Transmedia Arts seminar of the Mahindra Humanities Center of Harvard University. In this lecture, Joris Weijdom discusses critical concepts, such as embodiment, presence, and immersion, that concern mixed-reality design in the performing arts. He introduces examples from his practice and interdisciplinary projects of other artists.About the researchMultiple research areas now support the idea that embodiment is an underpinning of cognition, suggesting new discovery and learning approaches through full-body engagement with the virtual environment. Furthermore, improvisation and immediate reflection on the experience itself, common creative strategies in artist training and practice, are central when inventing something new. In this research, a new embodied design method, entitled Performative prototyping, has been developed to enable interdisciplinary collective design processes in CMRE’s and offers a vocabulary of multiple perspectives to reflect on its outcomes.Studies also find that engineering education values creativity in design processes, but often disregards the potential of full-body improvisation in generating and refining ideas. Conversely, artists lack the technical know-how to utilize mixed-reality technologies in their design process. This know-how from multiple disciplines is thus combined and explored in this research, connecting concepts and discourse from human-computer interaction and media- and performance studies.This research is a collaboration of the University of Twente, Utrecht University, and HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. This research is partly financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).Mixed-reality experiences merge real and virtual environments in which physical and digital spaces, objects, and actors co-exist and interact in real-time. Collaborative Mix-Reality Environments, or CMRE's, enable creative design- and learning processes through full-body interaction with spatial manifestations of mediated ideas and concepts, as live-puppeteered or automated real-time computer-generated content. It employs large-scale projection mapping techniques, motion-capture, augmented- and virtual reality technologies, and networked real-time 3D environments in various inter-connected configurations.This keynote was given at the IETM Plenary meeting in Amsterdam for more than 500 theatre and performing arts professionals. It addresses the following questions in a roller coaster ride of thought-provoking ideas and examples from the world of technology, media, and theatre:What do current developments like Mixed Reality, Transmedia, and The Internet of Things mean for telling stories and creating theatrical experiences? How do we design performances on multiple "stages" and relate to our audiences when they become co-creators?Contactjoris.weijdom@hku.nl / LinkedIn profileThis research is part of the professorship Performative Processes
