Face-reading system watches you watching ads
If a potential customer enjoys your advert, they are more likely to buy your product. It's a simple enough concept, but it is extremely difficult to know how well your advert is being received in the real world.
Niall Firth
 Reads your mind through your face. Mines the work of Daniel McDuff of MIT to develop a machine that examines the facial muscles and expressions of people as they watch a video. Notes that the software has a complex algorithm that analyzes the quantity and intensity of smiles and positive expressions in order to predict which videos or advertisements the participants liked the best. After the individuals were analyzed by the system, researchers asked how they liked the advertisement and their responses were recorded. The team gathered videos of over 3,000 people who were filmed as they observed 3 different advertisements. When analyzing the data, the researchers first ignored the verbal responses of the individuals so that their analysis would not be tainted. They predicted and recorded how each participant felt about the videos, based upon the intensity and frequency of their smile, the system having analyzed a region around the mouth. After the experiments, when researchers compared the machine's prediction with the participants' verbal response, they found the system was accurate 75% of the time. Not bad for a first trial.
The implications of the study are astounding, as the scientists have developed a machine to detect an individual's response to an advertisement or any kind of video. The data can then be used for any number of actions such as selecting advertisements for people based upon their emotional reactions. The technology could also be used to test advertisements before releasing them to the public. Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is NewScientist.com You might also enjoy:
Before you leave, let us know what your thoughts are on the implications of this technology. Are any of you a little frightened by the power of the system to read your emotions?
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, Blog Critics, Broowaha, and Social Media Today.
Headband Measures and Improves Your Focus During Any Activity
It's a problem everyone's encountered before: Just when we need to hunker down and focus the most — studying for an exam or completing a project, for example — our minds begin to float away, and our brains become mush.
Anita Li  Can a headband improve your thinking? Mines the Kickstarter project called Melon, which aims to market a headband that can be used with a smartphone to improve concentration and mental functioning. Notes that the combined, complex technology of the headband and mobile app will combat distraction and poor cognition by monitoring a person's concentration and giving feedback.
Melon provides information on how the current atmosphere affects the person's concentration so that the individual can then alter the environment to increase efficiency.
The band is a wireless device that uses EEG to detect, measure, and record brain activity, operating on the principle that the millions of neurons in the brain emit small electrical pulses. Melon tracks the pulses and provides feedback to the user on her level of focus, which can then be used to alter her environment and improve. In essence, it is a high-tech biofeedback device for mental processes. During any activity, the user can wear the band around the head to achieve higher efficiency on the project. Melon is now close to reaching its monetary goal with 28 days remaining: $77,ooo of $100,000. The video below provides more detail and demonstrates the product at work. Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is Mashable.com You might also enjoy:
Before you leave, let us know what you think of the capabilities of such a device. Does it sound like something you would try?
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, Blog Critics, Broowaha, and Social Media Today.
Boosting Brain Power: 8 Ways To Sharpen Your Mind
Billions of neurons in your brain can reshape themselves in response to what you do and learn. Help them along with these eight strategies to be sharper, make wiser decisions and stay focused.
Jena Pincott
 Exercise your brain. Mines the neuroplasticity, which means your brain learns, adapts, and changes physically over time. Notes that because your brain can always learn and reshape itself, you can perform tasks that will help you think more efficiently. - When you come across a "meaning threat," when your mind must try hard to work through a problem, your brain structure improves. The scientific term for a meaning threat is "cognitive dissonance," referring to knew information that doesn't make sense. These experiences help your brain to adapt to more complex thinking.
- You might try thinking in different spaces and places, as research has found that people think better in different circumstances. Usually a gentle hum of background noise is optimal. The distraction enhances creativity.
- For some reason, multiple studies have proven that chewing gum helps the brain act faster and more accurately.
- Aerobic exercise enhances the regions in the brain related to memory and focus. It releases a neurotropic substance that creates a protein needed in brain neurons.
- Look for connections in all that you see and do (even TV shows and magazines) because finding these intersections leads to new insights and creativity. Finding connections strengthens your frontal lobe and is called integrated reasoning.
- Second language skills improve your brain's ability to think. You reason more clearly when thinking in a foreign language. Studies have found that you solve problems more easily as well.
- Writing with hand to paper causes you to think more deeply. The additional physical experience, combined with your thinking, changes your brain.
- Talking aloud to yourself allows your brain to both form the problems in speech and listen to them. These processes enhance brain function.
Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is HuffingtonPost.com You might also enjoy:
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, Blog Critics, Broowaha, and Social Media Today.
Artificial Brain Now In Full Process Of Learning From The Internet
Some people actually fear the presence of artificial intelligence and are scared that it might become self-aware and start acting on its own. Research in Japan has already taken that step, sort of, and created an artificial brain that is in the process of learning everything from the Internet.
Richard Darell
 AI scanning image and interpreting. Mines the hot artificial intelligence (AI) research on SOINN in Japan that has taken a step forward in developing a computure brain than learns from images and the internet. Notes that researchers attempt to create in SOINN an AI brain that can learn by itself from anything on the internet. The computer first scans an object and makes an educated guess as to its nature. Then SOINN scours the internet to find all the information it can on the recognized object, incorporating all that it learns into its memory. SOINN can then detect that object in any shape, size, or color, and from any angle.
This ability to recognize the object in all its forms allows SOINN to then tap into memory to retrieve all that is known about the thing. This is AI self-learning which is a remarkable stride in the field. The extremely complex algorithm behind it all always changes as the brain does when it learns, so that the more information it uncovers, the more complex learning can take place. Dr. Osamu Hasegawa heads the project from the Tokyo Institute of Technology is excited about the AI technology that allows SOINN to become more self aware the more it learns. He is now working to perfect the algorithm so that it is able to recognize anything placed in front of its eye. Once recognized, SOINN heads to the internet looking for pictures, information, and knowledge about it. Once an object has gone through this process, all the information is stored in memory and the algorithm alters to allow for the new knowledge. The computer is actually self-learning. The video below, much translated from Japanese, is informative and shows off some of SOINN's unique features.
Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is BitRebels.com You might also enjoy:
Before you leave, let us know what your thoughts are on these kinds of AI advances. Do you find them scary or exciting?
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, Blog Critics, Broowaha, and Social Media Today.
Moon Landing Faked!!!—Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories
New psychological research helps explain why some see intricate government conspiracies behind events like 9/11 or the Boston bombing.
Sander van der Linden
 Are people just insane? Mines the book, "The Empire of Conspiracy" by Timothy Melley, which scientifically attempts to understand the minds of believers in conspiracy theories. Notes that, historically, these believers have been disregarded as a fanatic fringe of people who collectively believe in implausible and unusual explanations of events. Because of this view, many scholars dismiss the people and the theories as harmless, paranoid fantasy. However, this description does not suffice because it minimizes how widespread the beliefs are. For example, a US poll published this month reports that among Americans: - 37% believe global warming is not factual
- 21% believe that the US is hiding evidence of alien life
- 28% believe that a secret global alliance exists with the agenda of ruling earth
S tudies have shown that people who tend to believe in conspiracy theories do so because of high level thinking in the brain that tends to think in conspiratorial-like ways. This disproves previous thinking that believers are persuaded by the specific details of a precise story. These people tend to believe in conspiracy theories for some reason, regardless of the subject or the details. The theories are supposed explanations of a significant event in society as part of an extensive, planned effort concocted by a a secret group of people. In recent studies, believers in conspiracy theories have been linked to a rejection of science and scientific thinking. People buying into the theories are associated with feelings of powerlessness, a lack of agency, and an absence of control. Some scholars suggest that the theories are an attempt to compensate for this feeling of powerlessness, by explaining the world in a way that, to them, seems probable. This restores a sense of order to the mayhem of a complex social event.
When events are too intense or cause too much stress, some people find it emotionally and cognitively easier to believe in hoaxes and conspiracy theories, rather than the uncomfortable, difficult, and complex truth. Darin's note: This is a very rich article with much data and research I could not include. The article deserves to be read in its entirety. Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is ScientificAmerican.com You might also enjoy:
Before you leave, let us know what you think about conspiracy theories. Are there any you believe in?
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, Blog Critics, Broowaha, and Social Media Today.
Rat Study Suggests Even Mandatory Exercise Lessens Anxiety, Depression
New research using rats suggests that even when individuals are forced to exercise, they still benefit from reduced anxiety and depression.
Rick Nauert
 Mandatory physical activity helps. Mines the research that has long proved voluntary exercise reduces anxiety and depression, in order to see if mandatory physical activity would do the same. Notes that the researchers wanted to see if forced exercise would yield positive results, since intuition might suggest that being forced would have negative results. Researchers used complex experiment with rats, with a group that had the option of exercising on a wheel and a group forced to exercise on a regular routine. After 6 weeks of training, the rats were exposed to a stressful situation and researchers measured the amount of time the rats froze before reacting. A slow reaction time represented a reduced ability to cope with stress. Researchers found that both groups of rats significantly improved their ability to react quickly under stress. So, whether forced or self-motivated, the rats were better off in dealing with stress. The rats who were least active on the wheel had the slowest reaction time in the test. The experiment provided evidence that exercise, whether forced or voluntary, creates benefits in anxiety and depression. Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is PsychCentral.com You might also enjoy:
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, Blog Critics, Broowaha, and Social Media Today.
How Does the Act of Writing Affect Your Brain?
One of the most interesting details shared in the graphic above is the information about the Princeton University Study which demonstrated that the brain of a person telling a story and the brain a person listening to it can synchronise.
 Brain relationships between writer and reader. Mines the lobes of the brain in order to illustrate what happens in the brain during reading and writing.
Notes that the frontal lobe handles both speech and writing in addition to other motor movement, rational thought, decision making, planning, and solving problems. The parietal lobe also works with reading and writing, as it deciphers words and sentences. Researchers have noted that people with injuries to this area have trouble writing and spelling. When listening to speech, two main areas are active: Wernicke's area and Broca's area. The brain here processes words into meaning, allowing the mind to understand what is spoken or written. Interestingly, when you listen to a story, the Wernicke and Broca areas fire up, but also the other areas associated with language in the frontal and parietal lobes are engaged. This brain activity indicates that when you listen to a story it's as if you are experiencing the story first hand. A Princeton University study found that stories can also instill emotions, thoughts, and ideas as you listen, almost as if the brain of the listener syncs with the speaker.This suggests that writer's have great power in guiding and syncing with the mind of the reader or listener. Darin's note: There is a great infographic on the website if you are interested. Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is http://aerogrammestudio.com You might also enjoy:
Before you go, do you feel like your mind syncs with a book when you read it?
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, and Social Media Today.
Bad decisions arise from faulty information, not faulty brain circuits
Making decisions involves a gradual accumulation of facts that support one choice or another. A person choosing a college might weigh factors such as course selection, institutional reputation and the quality of future job prospects.
Princeton University
 Stop blaming yourself for bad decisions? Mines the connections between the brain, information, and decision making in order to determine where a disconnect is made with poor choices. Notes that researchers found that the error may not be in the brains processing but in the information. The report published in the journal Science finds a tendency for errors to arise when there is "noise" in the information being processed, not the brain. As the brain acquires information in the pursuit of a decision, there are often impurities or a lack of clarity in the data being analyzed. A fundamental question neuroscientists have asked is whether bad decisions occur because of impurities in the information (sensory input) or because the brain simply makes mistakes when processing it. Prior to this study, researchers mistakenly interpreted feedback from neurons as innately noisy, but the Princeton researchers were finally able to completely separate the sensory input from the internal workings of the brain. They found that there can be noisy sensory input while the neural networks in the brain are completely noise free, resulting in error. The subjects of the study were four college-aged participants and 19 rats. The net result is that oftentimes poor information causes your brain to make bad decisions. Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is PsyPost.org You might find these brain related articles interesting:
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, and Social Media Today.
The science of smiling: A guide to human’s most powerful gesture
Why did the Mona Lisa become one of the most famous paintings of all time? That’s a question an incredible amount of people have asked themselves in the past. And one possible answer is this: because of her unique smile.
Leo Widrich
 Mona Lisa's famously ambiguous smile. Mines the positive effects that smiling has on your brain and body. Notes that the smile is known as the expression representing the most intense positive state of emotion. For a smile to emerge on your face, neural pathways fire, traveling from the brain's cortex to the stem. Neural impulses then transmit the signals to the cranial and facial muscles causing you to smile. The smile, however, does not end with the curvuture of the mouth. The smile triggers neural impulses that fire back to the brain, creating a positive feedback loop. This generates further positive emotion. So, the brain tells your muscles to smile, and a report is sent back to the brain which causes further positive emotion and reinforces the smiling. Few rewards stimulate the mind more intensely than a smile, not even chocolate or exercise. The positive effects are many, including a reduction in stress throughout your body and brain, similar in some ways to getting a good sleep, studies have demonstrated. Children smile more often than adults, and this is one of the reasons we enjoy being around them. They smile frequently which causes us to smile more. Small children average about 400 smiles in a day, while a happy adult only smiles 40 - 50 times. The true average is closer to 20 per day, which may say a lot about the high levels of depression in adults. Smiling does more than simply demonstrate or cause joy. It decreases stress hormones that affect our body and mind in unhealthy ways. Smiles rid our bodies of negative hormones. One interesting note is that, of course, smiles can be faked, but humans are able to detect them, and the fake smiles do not have the powerful physiological effects that true smiles create. Interested? Click the title or image to read on. Source is Blog.BufferApp.com You might also enjoy:
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, and Social Media Today.
Scientists 'read dreams' using brain scans
Scientists have found a way to "read" dreams, a study suggests. Researchers in Japan used MRI scans to reveal the images that people were seeing as they entered into an early stage of sleep.
Rebecca Morelle
 Scientists able to read your dreams? Mines the research Japanese scientists performed on subjects, in order to be able to detect an object in the mind during a dream state, on an MRI. Notes that the complex process proved accurate 60%. While monitored on MRI, volunteers were awoken just as they began to sleep and asked to report what they were seeing. In this way the specific objects, like a cup, a pen, or chicken, were pinpointed in the brain using the MRI. So, the researchers knew what a cup looked like in the neurons of the brain.
The next step required the participants to look at pictures of the objects from on monitors, while the scientists noted the pictures on the MRI. This allowed them to understand more completely what the objects looked like in the neurons and pathways of the brain. These two processes were completed over 200 times for each individual so that they had a wide enough database to proceed with the testing. Finally, the first process was completed again, and the subjects were awoken just after entering a dream state. This time, however, they did not report what they saw. Instead, using the MRI data, the scientists predicted what the subjects saw, and they were able to do so with a remarkable 60%. So, more than half the time, the scientists could read the dream object.
Scientists hope to pursue this further in order to see more deeply into the brain and dreams so that they might understand the whole process more fully. They were careful to note that each of these "machines" are specific to an individual, and because each brain is so unique, it is not likely that they will ever be able to develop one mechanism that works for many people. Interested? Click the title or image above to continue reading. Source: BBC.co.uk
You might also enjoy these science articles: Before you take off, let us know what you think. Do you see scientific value in this type of study? Would you like to have your dreams read?
By Darin L. Hammond Writer for ZipMinis and owns ZipMinis Freelance Writing.
Darin Publishes across the web on sites like Technorati
BC Blog, and Social Media Today.
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