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Tim Holmes & Johannes Zanker Slide 2 Establishing the drivers of aesthetic preference is hard! Aesthetic phenomena are among the most complex phenomena within the domain of psychology, and this is often used as an excuse by psychologists for being able to say so little about them. Aesthetic phenomena are among the most complex phenomena within the domain of psychology, and this is often used as an excuse by psychologists for being able to say so little about them. Gustav Fechner (1865) Slide 3 Reductionism destroys the gestalt... Slide 4 ... and frequently ignores context! Slide 5 Historical reliance on self-report measures Not always reliable Subject to bias (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977; Wilson & Schooler, 1991) Objective measures needed MRI/EEG/Eye-Tracking (Vessel, Starr, & Rubin, 2009; de Tommaso, et al., 2008; Santella & DeCarlo, 2004) Slide 6 GDEA developed during PhD Evolutionary Algorithm (Darwinian) Competition for limited resource Genetic inheritance Survival of the fittest (Holmes & Zanker 2008, Proc. GECCO) Fitness determined for the complete phenotype based on aesthetic preferential looking measure (Holmes & Zanker 2012 i-Perception) Tested on GR/Colour Shape/Grouping/Op- Art/Commercial Packaging Slide 7 Never tested with organic phenotypes Special Effect (game) software accessibility GDEA as a creative tool? Taking it to the streets... Live Science BA Grant (yay!) Slide 8 GAZE DATA FROM EYE- TRACKER PROVIDES FITNESS THIS IS USED TO IDENITFY THE FITTEST PARENTS (BEST DINOSAURS) GAZE DATA FROM EYE- TRACKER PROVIDES FITNESS THIS IS USED TO IDENITFY THE FITTEST PARENTS (BEST DINOSAURS) USE DNA FROM FITTEST PARENTS TO CREATE NEW OFFSPRING MUTATIONS INTRODUCE NOVELTY USE DNA FROM FITTEST PARENTS TO CREATE NEW OFFSPRING MUTATIONS INTRODUCE NOVELTY Evolving Population Fitter Population Initial Population Slide 9 1000ms2500-5000ms 250ms 4 samples per generation Slide 10 Colour (R,G,B) Body (Type, Height,Width, Orientation) Number of spots Spines (Number, Height) Back Legs (Type, Height, Width) Front Legs (Type, Height, Width) Tail (Length, Thickness, Curvature) Neck (Length, Thickness, Curvature) Head (Type, Height, Width, Orientation) 1,073,234,313,200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 dinosaurs! Slide 11 Slide 12 Briefing GDEA2AFC Tobii X120 eye-tracker Tobii Toolbox for Matlab v1.1 19 4x3 screen @ 1024x768 1408 Participants (N=748 usable) 5-76yo (Mean = 21) 43 Nationalities Slide 13 Generation 10 Dinosaur colours (N=748) Slide 14 Slide 15 Slide 16 We expected clustering in colours from subject matter......wide distribution suggests preferred colour was dominating rather than best colour for a dinosaur If colour preference driving preference, we might have expected lots of blue dinosaurs The most consistently preferred colour in self- report R,G,B levels in self report closer to evolved for females Slide 17 Lost a lot of data: Set-up Environment Still lots more analysis to be done... Aesthetics: Age effects on colour & head/eye/body ratios Effects of presentation duration on performance Cultural differences - 43 different nationalities Eye-movements Slide 18 Methodology facilitates research into complex interactions Participants liked it! 78% didnt get tired/bored Clear potential for development as a creative tool Slide 19 GDEA being applied to Mondrians (RHUL), Symmetry (Liverpool/RHUL) and commercially (Acuity) NEW Matlab/Tobii Toolbox supports full gaze contingency meaning... real time feedback on gaze interactive stimuli (animation, sound) RHUL Baby Lab testing the methodology in pre- verbal infants Future Testing with Special Effect Slide 20 My team of explorers: Johannes ZankerSzonya Durant Alice Lowenhoff Hayley Thair Elina NikolaidouJade Jackson Felix ZankerGary Dalton Lee Webster My support: Slide 21 Questions? Live Science Website still up... www.pc.rhul.ac.uk/sites/insightfromyoursight New Matlab Tobii Toolbox... Launches with SDK 3.2 in 2012 Workshop this afternoon tim@acuity-intelligence.com for details