understanding the urban experience through mobile psychophysiological tools

Understanding the urban experience through mobile psychophysiological toolsPanos Mavros@MavrosP urbancortex.org

PhD Candidate Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, The Bartlett

Supervisors: Prof. Andrew Hudson Smith, Dr Martin Zaltz Austwick

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6.8%

13.7%

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34.4%

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48.2%

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Data geography: OA

Scale 1:84900

Method of travel to workOn foot

Map shows % of All usual residents aged 16 to 74.Census data (c) Crown Copyright Office of National Statistics.Contains Ordnance Survey data (c) Crown copyright & database right 2014-5.

DataShine is produced by the BODMAS project at UCL.Visit http://www.datashine.org.uk/ for an interactive version.

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Census 2011: Travel to work on foot

London’s last mile.

Map Credits: datashine.org.uk

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2.3%

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16.2%

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Data geography: OA

Scale 1:84900

Method of travel to workUnderground, metro, light rail, tram

Map shows % of All usual residents aged 16 to 74.Census data (c) Crown Copyright Office of National Statistics.Contains Ordnance Survey data (c) Crown copyright & database right 2014-5.

DataShine is produced by the BODMAS project at UCL.Visit http://www.datashine.org.uk/ for an interactive version.

,c11_ew_-QS701EW0003-QS701EW0001-oa-lq-0.023211100-0.065100400-cb-RdYlGn-8-0

London’s last mile.

Census 2011: Travel to work by public transport (rail, tube, etc)Map Credits: datashine.org.uk

TRAFFIC NOISE PM2.5

A lot of data about traffic and cars…

Credtis: Google, DEFRA

But what about pedestrians?

Christian Nold, Emotional Cartography (2007)

Images of headsetUnderstanding pedestrian mobility.

Images of headsetUnderstanding pedestrian mobility.

Questionnaires,only go that far.

Continuous recording of mental states

EEG:

mobile EEG

Modified Emotiv, Stopczynski et al., 2014

EEG Headcap + 16 electrodes

Signal Amplifier + Wireless (Bluetooth)

What is EEG?EEG can be analysed in frequency bands alpha, beta, gamma, delta, theta and other bands.

Brain areas are differentially engaged / recruited during different processes and can be more or less active in the various frequency bands

What is EEG?

Koelstra et al., (2012).Deap: A database for emotion analysis; using physiological signals, Affective Computing

Arousal

Valence

Liking

From signals, …to topographic maps,

Classifying brain states

Harnessing the possibilities of commercial EEG

Emotion Detection with Emotiv: • Excitement • Frustration • Engagement • Meditation 0

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How can we operationalise new technologies to inform design & planning?

Toolkits Protocols InterfacesTools Devices Equipment

What kinds of questions? Experiment Designs

Communication Outputs Insights

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Restorative Environments* Aspinall, Mavros, Coyne, Roe (2013) The urban brain: analysing outdoor physical activity with mobile EEGPaper http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/03/05/bjsports-2012-091877.abstractVideo https://vimeo.com/89866818

see also: project Mood, Mobility and Place (EPSRC) which “… explores how places can be designed collaboratively to make pedestrian mobility easy, enjoyable and meaningful for older people.”https://sites.eca.ed.ac.uk/mmp/

Oxford Circus

UCL

Tottenham Court Road

Urban Environments

Demo of experimenthttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29458586

Cities UnlockedA collaboration between Future Cities Catapult, Guide Dogs, Microsoft, UCL CASA, and more.

www.citiesunlocked.org.uk

Could mobile EEG be validated for this user group to help us map the experience of visually impaired people in the city?

We asked 12 people to walk 2km /30 minutes in downtown Reading.

Reading

Aerial View: Bing Maps

Variety of urban environments- Busy & quieter streets - Pedestrianised high-street - Pedestrian open-space - Urban green

Variety of urban intersections- 7 Controlled - 3 Non-controlled

Emotional states:

Excitement/ArousalVariety of urban environments- Busy & quieter streets - Pedestrianised high-street - Pedestrian open-space - Urban green

Variety of urban intersections- 7 Controlled - 3 Non-controlled

vEmotional states:

Frustration

Emotional responses to:

Urban sound & noiseKaisa Puustinen-Hopper (2015) Sound and the City: Ambient sound and emotions in the urban environment, MSc Dissertation, The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis

What next?

Understanding navigation

Understanding navigation

3D Aerial View: Apple Maps

Great Portland Street Station

200m

— We are here, @WellcomeUnderstanding navigation

With mobile EEG and novel sensing tools, we can start to map the human experience of cities.

Thank you!Panos Mavros@MavrosP urbancortex.org